Legends of Olympus: Olympus' Light
by M.J. Lyte
Summary: RE-BOOT! Percy had it all. Life was finally going smoothly. But when a new prophecy emerges, speaking of the greatest power they have ever faced, Percy and Annabeth must not only bring the 7 back together to fight against primordial power, but must also go on a National Treasure- like quest, following clews left behind to reassemble a weapon older than the gods themselves.
1. Chapter 1: Thus it Begins

Capture the Flag. Percy Jackson loved many things, but this game was unarguably one of his favorites.

"Percy, left!" Annabeth's voice brought him out of his daydream as he narrowly blocked a sword strike to his side. He blunt ended the poor kid, sending him sprawling. He flashed a quick smirk to Annabeth.

"Thanks, Wise Girl." Annabeth smiled a little

"Eyes on the prize, Seaweed Brain." she mock scolded as they fought their way through to their flag. Percy protected Annabeth as they ran back to their home base, cheers errupting as they arrived. A horn sounded, and Chiron galloped up the hill, beaming. All the other campers gathered around as Chiron announced the winners. A new camper stepped up and patted Percy's shoulder.

"Team Percabeth wins again, huh?" he chuckled. Percy just smiled

"Yeah, I guess we do. What did you say your name was?" Percy questioned. The boy stuck out his hand.

"Theo, Son of Aphrodite."

"Percy, Son of..."

"Everybody knows you Percy. You're a legend." Just then Chiron announced it was time to go down to the campfire.

"Nice talking Percy!" Theo called as he took off to catch up to his brothers and sisters. Percy just sighed contently as he looked up at the night sky. Right then, it was amazing to be Percy Jackson. As they celebrated around the campfire, Percy could feel the joy in the air. 1 year after defeating Gaea and making peace with the Roman demigods, everyone finally felt as though they could relax a little bit and enjoy themselves. Percy was more than happy to do just that. First with the Titans, then Mother Earth, Percy wanted nothing more than to just kick back and be care-free. Once sing-a-long was over, they all got free time, Percy finding Annabeth so they could hang out. But just as the were walking away from the campfire, a familiar voice called out to him

" Hey Jackson! Long time no seem!" Rachel Dare called as she jogged over to the 2.

"Rachel, hey. What brings you back to camp?" Percy asked. Rachel playfully puched his arm

" What, am I banned from joining the fun just cause im not a demigod?" she taunted. The 3 shared a good laugh, and man did it feel good to laugh. He and Annabeth had agreed to spend their summer vacation away from the Roman college, and to come back to Camp Half-Blood for the summer. They had been there for 1 uneventful month so far, which was fine by Percy. Even still, they all seemed hesitant to relax completely. Good things never lasted for demigods. Still, as the 3 walked the beach, Percy hand-in-hand with Annabeth, he couldn't help but feel relaxed.

'Man, life sure is good right now,' Percy thought as they all enjoyed the stars. They talked about college, and their friends, but mostly about their plans for the future. Everything seemed normal, at least demigod-normal. He was at Camp, arm around his beautiful girlfriend, enjoying life. So why did he feel so... uneasy?

"Everything ok, Percy?" Annabeth questioned

"Yeah, dude, you look a bit... off." Rachel affirmed

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Percy asked. Annabeth shrugged

" Just checking." she stated. Just then, Chiron blew the horn, signaling time to prepare for bed.

"Better get to our cabins." Annabeth sighed, then suddenly stepped towards Percy and briskly kissed him.

" Goodnight Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah... night." Percy muttered in surprise. "Night Rachel."

"See you in the morning, Jackson" she giggled. Percy took off running towards his cabin.

'I'm probably just being paranoid' he decided as he got ready for bed. After she was ready for bed, Rachel sat down and opened an old-looking empty scroll she had gotten from the gift shop. She had recently begun making drawings that she would sell to campers, and she had been doing them on these scrolls because it looked cool. She looked out the entrance of the cave, quill in hand thinking of what to draw. But when she looked down at her scroll, she just barely caught what looked like the last line of...

'Oh no.' she thought as the scroll seemed to roll itself up.

'Thus it begins'


	2. Chapter 2: Good Things Never Last

That night, Percy had a patented weird demigod dream. He was sitting at his home with his mom, eating some of her classic blue pancakes. They were talking about college, when she suddenly looked up at him, her eyes glazed over and a blank expression on her face. A raspy voice came from her mouth.

"You must find it, Percy Jackson. It is your only hope."

"Find what?" Percy questioned when he finally found his voice

"What do I need to find?" his 'mother' stared at him for a few moments, as though she was pondering how much to tell him.

"The light. Find the Light." It answered at last. The whole world seemed to fade into nothing all around him, and Percy dropped through the chair he was sitting on. He fell and fell and fell and... BOOM! He jolted up in his bed, panting and sweating. He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned on the wall.

'So much for me just being paranoid.' he thought angrily. It was official. Good things never last for demigods.

Rachel woke up in a start. She could still hear the voice pouring out of her father's mouth.

'Find the Light.' Light? What Light?? She got up and got dressed, then headed off to breakfast. When she reached the dining hall, she scanned the crowd for Annabeth. Being the Oracle and not really having a cabin or assigned table, she could sit wherever she wanted. Today, she felt like sitting next to Annabeth. If there was ever solid foundation of logic and wisdom , it was her. When she spotted Annabeth, she waded through the masses, and tapped her shoulder. Annabeth turned and smiled, then instantly hardened her expression. She had seen that look on Rachel's face before; something was wrong.

"Hey Rachel, what's wrong?'' Annabeth started. Rachel didn't even know where to begin.

"I had a super weird dream last night," Rachel began. Just then Percy walked into the dining hall. Annabeth loved Percy, she really did, but this particular morning he looked terrible. He trudged to get his food, and shuffled over to his table to eat. Annabeth and Rachel both went over.

"Percy, you ok? You look like you haven't slept in years." Rachel commented. Percy looked up at the 2, bags sagging under his eyes.

"Yeah….yeah I'm fine. Just…. Had a rough night last night. Had the weirdest dream…" He yawned. Rachel visibly tensed up.

"About the Light?" she questioned. Percy's eyes got huge.

"You too? Crap." No one spoke for a few moments, until Annabeth broke the silence.

"We need to talk to Chiron about this. We'll go after breakfast. They all nodded, and the girls went back to their table. None of them talked much; they were all too worried about what may lie ahead. Another problem so soon? They were all really hoping that their worries were behind them. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. If Rachel and Percy were having similar dreams about this "light", one could only reason that it wasn't a very good sign. They all got done eating and headed to the big house. They found Chiron in his office, behind his desk diligently filling out paperwork, Bocelli playing softly in the background. He looked up and smiled.

"Percy, Annabeth, Rachel. So nice to see you. What brings you here?" They all just looked at one another, wondering who should be the one to tell him. Rachel spoke up first.

"Chiron, Percy and I have both had… dreams." she began. Chiron leaned forward onto his elbows, hands clasped in front of him.

"Go on," He prodded kindly. She swallowed hard and continued.

"Well, we both dreamed about being told to find… find the light." Chiron looked astonished.

"The… the light? And you both had this dream?" he questioned, looking at Percy, who nodded. Chiron stepped out from around his desk.

"Well then, I suppose that settles it." Chiron asserted firmly.

"The prophecy of the Light being found is one I received from Olympus itself almost 20 years ago. I kept it from anyone until such a time as it were ready to be fulfilled... I just didn't expect you 3 to be the ones involved... you have already been through so much..." Chiron commented aloud.

"Wait, you know where the light is?" Percy questioned. Chiron merely shook his head.

"No, Percy, I don't. However, I do have a way to find it." he said triumphantly as they took the first steps into what was to be an epic quest.


	3. Chapter 3: Cursing a Quest 101

Chiron led the three to the attic of the Big House, where the Oracle once resided.

"This place brings back memories, huh?" Percy murmured. Annabeth just looked around, the wheels in her head already turning

"But Rachel is the Oracle now. So why are we here?" As if in response, Chiron pulled a book on the shelf, titled "Introduction to Optics". At first nothing happened, but suddenly, the bookshelf started slowly scraping off to the side, revealing another room. Chiron looked at them, eyebrow cocked playfully

"You didn't really think the Big House's attic was that small, did you?" He smiled as they stepped into the musty room. It looked almost identical to the adjacent room, save cobwebs and different items clogging the floor.

"This room was originally built for in case an extremely secretive meeting was called, so that nosey campers wouldn't interrupt. However, about 20 years ago, a prophecy was delivered concerning the "light", and how this great power would someday be Olypus' only hope against an evil greater than even they had ever faced." Chiron stepped up to a table that sat in the middle of the room. The desk had a single drawer with an odd shaped key-hole. Chiron pulled a key out of his pocket.

"I had hoped I wouldn't need to use you in a while, old friend." he sighed sadly as he inserted the key and turned. The tumbles could be heard falling, and dust flew into the air as the drawer opened. Inside, was a scroll, and what looked to be an amulet. Chiron pulled both out.

"This is the prophecy I received 2 decades ago, only to be opened once the light has been retrieved. And this," he said as he held up the amulet. It was a piece of beautiful Amethyst on a golden chain.

"This was givin to me when Hermes hand-delivered this scroll. He told me that this would lead you to the light." Percy took it, then handed it to Rachel.

"You're taking lead on this one, Rach." Percy smiled.

"No Percy, I'm…. I can't." Annabeth put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"I agree. This somehow feels… right. You'll do great, I know it." she smiled. Rachel took it into her hand, and instantly she spaced out.

"108 St. Luke Lane, Chicago, Illinois" she said mindlessly. She blinked twice and shook her head. She looked up excitedly.

"That…. That was AWESOME!" she exclaimed. Percy's eyebrows arched in disbelief.

"That's it? That's where the light is?" He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Awesome. This'll be easy." he said cooly. Annabeth, without a facial expression at all, slapped him in the back of the head. He whipped around in disbelief and anger

"What the heck, Annabeth! What was that for?!?" he exasperated. She glared daggers right back at him.

"What was that for, Seaweed Brain? THAT was for cursing the quest you nitwit! Now, we will inevitably run into all sorts of trouble. Thanks alot, Percy." she said grumpily

"Well you didn't have to HIT me! Geez!!!" he accused.

"If she didn't, I was gonna." Rachel commented. Percy looked back and forth between them, betrayal written all over his face.

"Thanks alot for all the LOYALTY guys. Top notch, really. I'm gonna go pack." he stomped off in the direction of his cabin.

'Hopefully no one else feels the urge to spontaneously SLAP me on the way' he murmured under his breath. Without moving or even looking at one another, the 2 girls hi-fived.

"He totally just cursed us, didn't he?" Rachel asked

"Ohhhh yeah he did. Big time. Be prepared." Annabeth said. She then turned to Chiron.

"We'll bring the light back, Chiron, don't worry." she said confidently. Chiron nodded, staring off into the distance, thinking.

"I do hope so, Annabeth. If the light is needed, a great power must be rising. I fear this could be one of our greatest challenges yet. And I fear this is just the beginning." The girls turned to get ready to set off.

"And be on guard, girls. Something tells me that you won't be the only ones after this light." Chiron added. Annabeth nodded seriously, and on that note they went to prepare themselves for the long road to Chicago.


	4. Chapter 4: Rachel Gets Bling

Percy stuffed his clothes into a duffel bag grouchily, still more than a little agitated at Annabeth for smacking him.

"We know where it is, and it's a straight shot from here to Chicago. We've dealt with Mother Earth, I'm sure we can handle a little drive. I mean come on, what's the worst that could happen? He packed plenty of ambrose and nectar, for incase the worst DID happen. He turned to leave, and was greeted by Annabeth and Rachel, both of which also had bags packed up.

"You guys ready to head out?" Percy asked. They both nodded, and together they went to tell Chiron their goodbyes. Chiron was reading a book entitled "Becoming a Better Trainer" when the 3 walked in.

"Are you ready to go then? Please, allow me to walk you out." Chiron said almost sadly. As they walked to Half-Blood Hill, the air seemed almost void of all the happiness that had penetrated it just a day ago. Argus was already pulled up to the hill in a black SUV, ready to drive them to wherever their journey took them. They turned to Chiron again. He nodded and smiled

"Be safe, young heros. Come back to us quickly."

"We will. Don't worry, we'll have the light and be back in no time." Percy reassured him. Chiron simply nodded. With that, they threw their bags into the trunk of the SUV, and were off on another adventure. For a while they drove in silence, only Annabeth's typing on her laptop and Percy's nervous tapping breaking the silence. Finally, Rachel spoke up.

"So, it's a good 12 hours from here to Chicago, So should we divide it into 2 days, or just ride out the whole thing?" Annabeth looked over to Percy, who was sitting by the window to ask him, then gave an annoyed sigh. He was fast asleep, his head on the window. She looked back at Rachel.

"I think we'll just ride it out." Annabeth went back to typing wildly. Rachel looked out the window, watching as the world passed by. The amulet suddenly glowed bright purple. Rachel again touched the gemstone, and said blankly

'11268 Pilot Avenue, Marion, Indiana' she shook her head confusedly

"Indiana? It was just in Illinois, like, 5 minutes ago!" she exasperated. Both girls glared at the sleeping form of the quest-curser Percy Jackson.

"Well, assuming that it doesn't randomly move again, we just cut our drive time in half." Rachel commented to herself. Annabeth nodded in agreement. More silence.

"What do you think it looks like? Will we even know what to look for?"

Rachel asked. Annabeth thought for a moment, then answered.

"In my experience, with things like these, when you see it, you'll know." She answered. Rachel looked out the window again, twirling the now inactive gemstone in her fingers. She looked at it, carefully examining the texture and fineness of it. It was a decent chunk of gem, about the size of a golf ball. As she examined it she noticed it was cracked. She lightly brushed the crack, and a light hissing sound came from inside the gem as it opened, revealing the contents inside. A plain titanium ring encrusted with 4 very bright amethysts on the knuckle could be seen as the mist cleared. By then Annabeth was watching, curiosity in both of their eyes as she carefully lifted the ring out to examine it. But just as she pulled it out, what used to be the 'amethyst' turned a sickly grey then seemed to disintegrate, leaving the golden chain the ring was on around her neck, with one tiny piece of what appeared to be ruby in the place of the giant gem. Both girls were speechless. Rachel carefully put the ring on. She felt nothing out of the ordinary, which in all honesty threw her into a major panic.

"Did….Did I ruin it?!?" Rachel panicked.

"I don't think so. Where is the light now?"

"Same address in Indiana, why?" Rachel gasped "Whoa!!! How did i know that?"

"I think the ring is the true gemstone Rachel. The necklace was just a facade." Annabeth reassured. Rachel looked at the ring on her finger, then at the necklace around her neck.

'Wow. Demigod stuff is complicated!' she thought to herself as they informed Argus of their slight change in destination. Rachel couldn't wait to see the light


	5. Chapter 5: Percy Talks Pie

For the next 5 hours, they all rode in relative silence, making a comment or 2 to one another every one in a while, until Percy woke up. He stretched and yawned.

"Mmhwe there yet?" He whined. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Does it LOOK like we're there yet, Seaweed Brain?" she said snootily

"Does it LOOK like we're there yet" Percy said in a bratty mock of Annabeth. She just gave him a glare. He started visibly sweating.

"Oh look….. McDonald's." he said randomly, looking out the window. He happened a glance at Rachel's hand, and saw the ring

"Nice ring, Ray. Where'd you get it?" She looked at it smiling.

"Long story, Percy." He rested his head on the window and faced her.

"We've got time." So Rachel told him about how the ring was in the gemstone, and about how they were now on their way to Indiana instead of Illinois. He sat quietly the whole time. By the time she was finished, Argus pulled over to the side of a road. Pilot Avenue.In all honesty, it was nothing like what they were expecting. Instead of the light being in an area with a lot of humans to disguise its presence, the trio found themselves in a very rural little town. The "town square" looked like your typical modern western set up, a bunch of stores with one street running straight through it. There were restaurants, a barber, a doctor's office, a grocery store, and a couple of other stores. The only difference from a western town was that right outside of town, there was quite a few rows of houses on a hill. Rachel stood taking it all in. She looked at the ring as it glowed bright purple. Rachel suddenly started walking, somehow feeling as though she knew right where she was going. Annabeth and Percy followed, grabbing their bags and telling Argus they'd be right back. They caught up to Rachel, and kept stride with her as she walked towards what looked to be a rest stop.

"Rachel, whoa slow down!" Percy said. Rachel just kept walking, going straight into the rest stop. The ring was glowing crazy purple. She held up her hand, and it almost seemed to gravitate towards a singular person. A young man, no older than 19, sitting on a stool at the bar. He was a little taller than Percy, but a little shorter than Jason. He was very well built for someone his age, wearing a red sleeveless shirt, a pair of army grade camo pants and boots.

"There. He has it Percy! He has to have the light." Rachel hissed quietly, pointing nonchalantly.

"Ok, well…. You 2 grab a table, I'll be right back." Percy whispered. He walked over as calmly as one could, and sat down next to him. The boy looked at him for a second, then back down at his plate

"So, how's the pie?" Percy asked. The boy hummed.

"Best pie anywhere dude. Now a question for you; what are you?" Percy looked at the boy confusedly.

"I….I'm not sure exactly what you mean." Percy said nervously. The boy chuckled.

"Cmon, you monsters have been after me since day one. I know a human when I see one. You're no human." Percy swallowed hard. This was the difficult part.

"I'm not a monster. Im….." Percy looked around, then leaned closer.

"Ok, you know the Greek gods?" he started

"Yeah they're real. Tell me something I didn't know…" the boy paused, examining a wallet.

"...Percy Jackson, 6'1", Black hair, blue green eyes, 18 years old" The boy read off of his driver's license.

"HEY!" Percy said, yanking his wallet out of the boy's hands and putting it back in his back pocket. He sat down and continued.

"Well, sometimes the gods have children with mortals."

"So you're a demigod?" the boy asked. Percy nodded. The boy continued eating his pie.

"Well that's nice and all, but what does that have to do with you finding me?" he asked.

"Well, we believe that you may have a device or item of extreme importance to us. You may hold the key to the very survival of Western culture as we know it." Percy said seriously. The boy cocked an eyebrow at him

"And what, pray tell, is this life changing item you think I have called?"

"As far as we can tell, it is called 'The Light'". The boy laughed, like Percy had just told an inside joke.

"Well, Mr Jackson, I hate to disappoint, but whatever it is you're looking for, I don't have it. Sorry to waste your time." The boy turned back to his pie, and Percy's heart dropped. Their only lead claims he knows nothing!?!

"Are...are you sure?" He asked.

"Positive. Sorry, but I can't help you." Percy was about to leave, when he turned.

"If you don't have the light, then why did you say monster were after you?" As if on cue, an unholy roar was heard outside. Percy looked back and forth between the boy and the door. Annabeth and Rachel were already heading out. Percy reluctantly pulled out and uncapped Riptide, then charged out of the diner. While everyone else wondered how and why that boy snuck a baseball bat into the diner, The boy just turned back to his pie.

'Cool sword.' he murmured, devouring his pie once again.


	6. Chapter 6: The Truth Revealed

When Percy reached the street, he was met with a familiar sight. A monster terrorizing the people of the town. It looked like a giant 2 headed snake, one head on the shoulders and one on the tail. It had 2 arms, swinging at anything that moved. Its tail head was breathing fire at anything the front left behind. It picked up a car and threw it like a baseball. The 3 ducked as it flew overhead.

"Annabeth, what is that thing??" Percy yelled over the sound of the destruction

"Amphisbaena. Very old, very powerful!" she yelled back. The creature's front head lifted into the air and sniffed twice, then whipped around and roared at the trio.

"Oook we have its attention. Plans Wise Girl?!?" Percy said nervously.

" Dodge the cars and avoid the fire!" she screamed, somersaulting off to the side as the Amphisbaena vaulted another car at them

"Gee thanks!!" he yelled. They both waited until another blast of fire was let loose, then both came out from behind their cover and attacked. Percy sliced the creatures forearm straight off, a roar of agony piercing the air. Annabeth charged the flank, stabbing and slashing as the hind head whipped around and almost roasted her. She narrowly ducked and rolled, sliding onto one knee. Percy blocked the monster's claws and sliced its face. As it reeled from the hit, he jumped and sprung off of its head, landing on the other side. As the 2 recovered and prepared to attack again, something horrific happened. The beast started squealing and wriggling in agony, then it suddenly screamed, its eyes turning blood red. The hind head split off, growing arms and legs of its own, as well as wings. The front head did the same. Both roared at the heros, looking scarier and more beefed than the original models

"Wise Girl….." Percy started

"I see it, Percy. We'll do the same. Divide and conquer. Duck!!!" Percy narrowly missed a manhole cover, thrown like a frisbee. Percy attacked, dodging a stream of flames and stabbing at its chest, Annabeth following suit on the other beast. They fought and dodged and slashed and ducked, until they were both standing shoulder to shoulder, the monsters mere feet away from them, blood dripping from their cuts. Then, one of them turned to Rachel, who had been standing off away from the fight.

"Rachel RUN!!!" Percy screamed. But it was too late. The creature let loose a stream of flames. Rachel screamed and covered her eyes, Percy and Annabeth watching helplessly as their friend was charred to ash. But, just as the flames were about to engulf her, a streak of purple light zoomed in and grabbed her out of the way. Percy and Annabeth looked around in bewilderment, until they saw, a good 5 yards away, the boy from the diner, holding an unharmed Rachel bridal style. He set her down gently, then smiled. The loudspeakers outside of the stores kicked on, and "Kickstart My Heart" by Motley Crue started blaring out all over the town. The boy looked at Rachel, nodded, then suddenly appeared next to Percy and Annabeth. The faintest smile twitched on Percy's lips. The boy noticed and shrugged.

"Finished my pie" he stated nonchalantly, then took a ready stance as the 2 monsters charged them. The boy took off, a purple blur as he seemed to appear in front of one of the monsters, punching it in the face with lighting speed. In the same moment, he seemed to be punching the other as well. He dodged its claws, then roundhouse-kicked it. It reeled, and Percy took full advantage, slicing the head off of one of the monsters. It fell to the ground in a cloud of dust. The song ended, and the 3 turned to the remaining monster to see it was splitting into 2, then 4, then 6, until there were at least 30 of them. They then morphed back together, forming 5 bigger, 4 armed monsters.

"Whoa. Ok, that's a first" the kid said. By then, Rachel was a few feet away, amazed by the sight. One of the beasts noticed Rachel again, and the boy noticed as well

"Hey Red! Get back!" he yelled. But the thing took advantage of the moment, wrapping its long, scaly tail around the boy, constricting around him, squeezing the life out of him. Rachel looked around wildly

'Come on, there's got to be something sharp around here!' she thought. Then, she heard a raspy female voice that wasn't her own in her head.

'The ring. Throw him the ring.' Without time to question, she wiggled the ring off of her finger.

"Hey, kid! Catch!!" she yelled, throwing the ring in the air. As if flew through the air, it changed, morphing and elongating until the boy caught a wicked looking sword. It was curved at the top so it didn't really have a tip, but on the other side it had 3 giant teeth cut into it. It was studded with gems on the guard, and the handle was leather wrapped. The middle of the blade was lined with an amethyst fuller, and the blade edge was a deep grey metal. The boy sliced off the creature's tail, then in a blaze of purple energy sliced it into a million tiny pieces. He looked at the blade admiringly, then zoomed off, slicing each monster into pieces as he went. All the other 3 could see was a purple blur and monsters falling to pieces. After a few moments, there was an eerie silence, monster dust floating everywhere. The boy appeared in front of the 3, slicing the throat of the final beast as he walked.

"Well, that was…. Energizing." The boy said seriously. He held the sword out to Rachel.

"That's one wicked blade you've got there, Red."

"Keep it. It looks like you can use it better than I can." The boy looked behind himself, seeing the orange dust everywhere. He chuckled half heartedly.

"Thanks." he said sincerely. Percy stepped closer to him, looking him in the eyes.

"This explains why the monsters kept coming after you. You're one of us, right?" Percy asked. The boy simply nodded.

"And you're sure you have no idea where the light is?" Percy questioned hopefully. The boy sighed and looked at his boots.

"I know what you're looking for Jackson, and it's not a thing." Percy looked at him confusedly. The boy stuck out his hand.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced, Percy. My name's Micah. Micah Lyte."


	7. Chapter 7: Micah's Origin Story

"So hang on: You're saying you ARE the light??" Rachel asked incredulously. They were all 4 packed into the SUV, Micah and Percy in the far back seat, and the 2 girls in the front. Micah shrugged genuinely.

"What are the odds that you are looking for the "light", and my last name just so happens to be a homonym?"

"Very unlikely, seeing as though the ring also led us right to him. " Annabeth commented. She looked at Micha right in the eyes, tring to figure out why she felt like she had seen met him before. qHe didnt seem to notice as he looked at the blade still in his hands. There was an inlaid hole in the middle of the guard. He stuck his ring finger into it, and in a flash of purple light, it became a ring on his finger. He looked up and smiled.

"That's just sick!" he said excitedly.

"Reminds me of how your blade works, PJ." Percy nodded, then pulled out his ball-point pen.

"Its called Aνακλυσμός."

"Riptide." Micah translated. "That's wicked cool man!" Percy smiled and nodded.

"Hey, what's this ones name?" He asked. Percy shrugged.

"Guess you get to name it."

"Hang on." Rachel said as she reached over impulsively and touched the ring on his hand. She closed her eyes and focused

"It has a name." She said, her eyes still locked shut.

"Δήμιος" Rachel finally said after a few seconds. Annabeth's eyebrow raised in surprise.

"Executioner. Wow. What a name for a sword." she commented. They all sat in silence for a few moments before Percy spoke up.

"So, Micah, tell us a little about yourself"

"What do you want to know?" he asked unenthusiastically

"How old are you?"

"18."

"Where's your family?" Annabeth asked.

"Won't they be worried about you?" Micah began twisting the ring on his finger, his eyes glued to the floor.

"I don't have a family." he said quietly. Both girls turned around and looked at him shocked.

"I've... I've been on the run since I was 8. My mom died around that time. Ex - military. She got me through high-school by the time I was 8. She taught me martial arts. She was a Seal, so she knew how to fight. She was the best." he paused, regaining his composure.

"One day, she goes to work, I go to school.Not that I needed to, but why pay for a babysitter when I can just go to school. It seemed to be another normal day. Only when I get home, the house is locked. Mom's not home. The back window was always unlocked, so I climbed in, figuring Mom was just working late. She… she never came back. A lady showed up at the door.Really old. When I saw she blinked sideways, I freaked out and tried to escape out the back door. She kicked the door down, and I could tell she was a monster. She said something about ending it right then, and how they had gotten my…my mom already , then she tried to slash at me with her claws.I covered my eyes and waited to be sliced. After a few seconds, I chanced looking. She was still there, still swinging at me, only she seemed frozen in place. I looked around and everything seemed almost stopped. I looked at my hands, and they moved just fine, only with every move I made, I gave off this purple light. I remember thinking it looked just like when you wave a glow stick back and forth really fast. I took a step, and felt like I flew forwards. It took some time to learn to control it. Once I realized what was happening, something replaced my fear. Anger. Hurt. I carefully walked back over to the she beast. It had still barely moved. I clenched my fist and hit her with all of my might. Everything seemed to go back to normal after that. I saw her head whip back like I had just taken a baseball bat to her. I heard its neck snap, saw it hit the ground and disintegrate into dust. That's when I realized: I had to run. I couldn't trust anyone. I still wasn't sure if my mom was alive or dead, but I knew one thing: I wasn't safe anymore. So I ran, quite literally. I would hide from the police, hoping no one would notice the small 8 year old boy with no parents around. I learned to control my abilities, and use them to keep me alive. No one could hire a small 8 year old boy, but."

Again he held up Percy's wallet, then handed it back.

"They aren't exactly opposed to serving them either. For the past 10 years I've been running, never trusting anyone. Then I met you guys, so willing and ready to fight the good fight. When Percy asked me if I knew where the light was, I saw a look in his eyes. Genuineness. And when you guys took on those creatures, I knew you were different. I knew I could trust you. So here I am." he finished, staring out the window. For the next 5 1/2 hours back, they all rode in silence.

They were tired covered in sweat, dirt, and monster dust, but hey; they got what they came for. Argus pulled up to the same place he had left from, the SUV barely hanging on after being hit multiple times during the battle. Rachel got out and immediately walked around the car and hugged Micah. At first, he stood unmoving, but then he let himself hug back.

"You're not alone anymore. You've got us now." she said shakily.

"Thank you, Rachel." He whispered. When she let go, Percy threw his arm around him and smiled.

"Welcome home, Micah. Camp Half-Blood. Come one, we'll give you the tour, then you've got a prophecy to fulfill. Actually , let me introduce you to the showers first." He chuckled. Together, the 4 walked into camp. The Lyte had been found. The War had begun.


	8. Chapter 8: A Face from the Past

Micah held onto the rails in the shower as he let the hot water spray down his toned body. When he was about 12 years old, he started working out. From all the years of running and fighting, he was extremely well built. His body was riddled with scars, some huge, some smaller. Each one told a story. He had been places that would make other people curl up in the fetal position, done things that would make others sick. He heard Percy's shower turn of.

"Hey man, I'm done. Take your time, and when you're ready, meet me at the Mess Hall." he heard Percy get dressed then the door close with a squeak. Alone again. Micah let out a sigh of relief. Some of the things he had done, he would never tell. After 10 years of running and killing monsters, he was different than even them. When it came time to fight, Micah went primal. He stepped out of the shower, walked over to the mirror, and examined himself. Chocolate brown hair, caramel skin, and sad grey eyes, almost brown. He looked at his chest, touching one of his scars gently. He felt his face, a thin beard he had forgotten was there, masking his true face. He sighed, then looked around. There was a pack of razors in Percy's locker. He grabbed one, and the soap dish on the sink countertop, and began shaving away years of aloneness with each stroke of the razor. He was ready to make friends, to have a home… to have a family.

Percy paced around outside of the mess hall. He and Annabeth decided to give him the tour together.

"Percy, you're pacing." Annabeth said flatly, like she had told him a million times and he still wasn't listening.

"Sorry, I just hope he didn't get lost." As if on cue, in a flash of light and gust of wind, Micah stood in front of them. They heard him before they saw him.

"Hey guys, where's Red?" he asked

"She's with Chiron, the camp director, she'll be.." Annabeth stopped mid sentence, shock and emotion all over her face. They both stared at him, mouths hanging open. Annabeth covered her mouth, trying not to cry. She felt like someone had driven a dagger through her heart, and it was easy to understand why. Once the beard was shaven off, Micha looked identical to Luke Castellan, except for hair, skin, and eye color. His face was exactly the same as even Percy remembered, minus the scar. Micah looked at them confusedly.

"Did… did I do something wrong?" he asked cautiously

"No, no you… you just look alot like an old friend of… ours." Percy answered.

"Oh. What... what happened to him?" Micah asked. Percy looked down sadly.

"He died trying to protect us. He saved us all."

Micah nodded, then carefully put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. She slowly reached up and put a hand on his cheek, as if feeling for a scar.

"I'm sorry Annabeth, but I'm not him." he said gravely. She looked up at him, and smiled. He even made the same facial expressions as Luke, the ones she had learned to read so well.

"It's fine, he's in a better place now." she said shakily, then shook her head. She looked at Micah, embarrassment all over her face as she removed her hand.

"Sorry… I just…. You look so much like him. If you dyed your hair, I couldn't even tell you apart." She said, still regaining composure. Percy put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, and she turned and hugged him genuinely.

"Are you going to be ok, Annabeth?" he whispered

"Yeah…yeah I'll be fine." she said, taking a breath to steady herself. She turned and faced him once again. It was going to be hard getting used to seeing that face again. She smiled and wiped away a tear or 2. She then looked between them seriously.

"This.never. happened." the 2 boys looked at each other, eyes wide

"What never happened?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." they said at the same time. Rachel ran up the hill, breathless.

"Guys, Chiron needs you now! The scroll just started glowing. Take a guess what color."

"Purple." they all said in harmony. They took off down the hill, Micah staying with them until they reached the Big House. The few campers who were there were all just as shocked as Percy and Annabeth were. Luke was back? Not having the time or energy to explain quite yet, they all burst into the Big House. Chirons eyes landed on Micha first.

"Oh my…" Chiron said in shock. Micah stuck his hand out.

"Yeah, I've been gettin that a lot lately. Apparently I'm literally a new man when I shave. Micah Lyte." Chiron took his hand, eyes even larger.

"Light?" he said surprisingly.

"L-y-t-e, but… yeah I think I'm your guy." Chiron placed the scroll on the table. He tried to unroll it, but it seemed almost cemented shut.

He handed it to Micah.

"Let's find out, shall we?" Micah took the scroll, and slowly unrolled it.

 ** _A darkness grows down deep below,_**

 ** _An evil Olympus hoped never know_**

 ** _10 warriors guided by the light,_**

 ** _Shall together stand and fight_**

 ** _Primordial Evil they must weather_**

 ** _Their only hope is fight together._**

They all sat in silence for a moment.

"So… I'm leading a team of 10?" Micah asked worriedly. He had been alone for _years_ and now they suddenly expect him to lead a whole TEAM?!? Percy sat down, thinking.

"I just wish there was more about the 10. That's the biggest group we've ever had on a quest." he commented. Rachel suddenly stood up.

"I almost forgot!" she yelled as she took off towards the cave. She stopped and turned

"Well? You guys comin or what?" she yelled. Percy shrugged, and together they ran to Rachel's cave. When they got there, she pulled the scroll off of her desk.

"I wrote this on accident before we left. I was trying to draw and… well here." she stuck it out to Micah. He smiled warmly, which sent a shiver down Percy's spine.

'Whoa. He couldn't look any more like Luke if he tried.' Percy thought.

"You read it, Red. It's yours after all." Micah said. Rachel nodded, and slowly and shakily began opening the scroll


	9. Chapter 9: Speed Demon

Rachel swallowed hard and read the scroll;

The 7 warriors of then

Shall come together once again

And take up arms to join the fight

To war beside Olympus' Lyte

To find the answers that you seek

Climb the tallest mountain peak

Beat the swiftest being alive

If your world is to survive

The Lyte to find his destiny

Must find the eldest prophecy

They all stood there for a moment or 2, none of them knowing exactly what to say. Micah finally spoke up.

"Look, guys, as cool as this seems; I can't be part of this wonder team. I work alone. I only helped you guys because you really needed it. But it sounds to me like you 7 have some history. I don't do good with big groups. Being alone for 10 years kinda makes teamwork not really, well work. I…. I can't." he ended, Staring at the floor deep in thought. Annabeth had to pull her eyes away from him. She was still visibly shaking from seeing Micah clean shaves

'It's not even like they look a little alike; they look almost IDENTICAL! They could seriously be twins! The way he looks, talks, acts….smiles.' Annabeth felt herself nearing tears again, then steeled herself.

'Pull yourself together, Annabeth; you're a daughter of Athena for crying out loud!' She nodded to herself, making up her mind. Just then Percy leaned over and whispered

"Hey, I think I have a way to convince Micah to come on this quest with us. I just need some time. Think you and Ray could work on him until I'm ready?" She nodded.

"Yeah, I've got a few ideas." She whispered back. She was going to do this with him at some point anyways. Now was just as good a time as any.

"Hey Micah," she snapped him out of his trance. "Hows about you come with me so I can run some tests. It'll help clear your head." she finished. Micah shrugged and half smiled.

"Sure. I've got nothing better to do anyways." He said. She turned to Rachel, who also shrugged.

"Could be fun," she commented. The 3 of them set off towards the training center, while Percy went to see if he couldn't find a way to convince Micah to join them.

BREAK*

Annabeth led the to the giant training center. The training center was built after the war with Gaea to ensure the next generation of heroes would be well equipped for any task that may arise. Now, as Micah walked in, the air even smelled new.

"Welcome to the training center. We've got everything we'll need to push you to your limits right here. Come with me." she led him to an area in the back of the building. It looked like a catwalk, with a bullseye at one end. Annabeth pointed at the bullseye.

"You stand down there." she said. Micah slowly walked to the far end, until he stood 140 yards away from Annabeth, and only inches away from the target. To her immediate left was a white table. She opened one of the drawers, pulling out a tiny rubber push dagger.

"These are rubber daggers," Annabeth explained. "They are designed to be just as heavy and fast as the real deal, but a little less...pointy." she loaded one into a machine that looked like an automatic baseball pitcher

"This machine is designed to shoot these daggers at you at various speeds. But for you, I'm setting it on top speed" she yelled across the room. Micah suddenly appeared in a whoosh

"Why am I so far away?" he asked. She shrugged.

"This is actually designed to be a spear throwing tunnel but I thought it would suit our purposes. Micah grunted.

"Fair enough. Whenever you're ready. He zoomed back over to the other end. Annabeth waited a few seconds, then pushed a button. What sounded like a canon going off rang through the building, firing a single rubber blade. Time seemed to slow down around Micah as the harmless dagger seemed to come to a stop mid air. Micah walked over and grabbed it. All Annabeth and Rachel saw was Micah suddenly appear in front to them, holding the dagger not 5 feet away from Annabeth.

"Whoa. That was awesome." Rachel stated. Annabeth was still stunned.

"Do...do you have any idea how fast you were just moving?" she asked as she looked at the computer screen on top of the table.

"Well, considering you probably shot that at…" Micah worked the Math instantaneously

"250km/hour that's roughly, what, 155.343 mph? And it didn't even move .00005 inches…. You were 140 yards away so i covered 139.995 yards in .00001 seconds that….. 2,863,472.727 mph" he said resolutely. Annabeth just stared.

"2mil…. No one could run that fast. thats almost…"

"quarter light speed, yeah." He finished. Annabeth glared.

"No thing could go light speed." She half growled. Micah scoffed.

"Yeah I can. I can probably go a little above if I really want to." he muttered to himself. Annabeth couldn't stand this, it was just like arguing with Luke or Percy.

"No, because the atoms in your body would vaporize." she stated with finality. He just cocked his head, his look saying,

'Really?'

"Since when has science ever applied to our kind?" he asked smugly. She wanted to hit him…. Soooo badly

"Fine, Speedy, you want to test that? Right this way!" Annabeth stomped off towards the other end of the building. Rachel and Micah followed her to what looked like a futuristic treadmill.

"I asked the Hephaestus cabin to make this while we were driving here. It's a treadmill that feeds off of the equal but opposite energy you give off when you run, essentially making it so that it can go however fast you can WHICH I might add is nowhere near even half light speed because your body isn't a pile of charred ash." She finished, teeth grit. Micah stepped on the treadmill

"What's the max speed this thing can clock?" he asked. Annabeth shrugged.

"Don't know." she pointed to a set of stop lights. "Red is stop, yellow is jog or half speed, green is everything you've got. Understand?" Micah nodded, so Annabeth and Rachel stepped behind a tiny little control panel built into another white table. She hit the yellow button, and Micah started jogging. At first he looked like a normal guy, and his speed told a similar story. He was clocking in at 25 mph, when suddenly he just started picking up. He went faster and faster, until he was just a blur of a human, bathed in purple light. He hit 768 mph, and a tiny sonic boom caused both girls to jump. He kept accelerating, until in a matter of seconds he went from 768 mph to 768,000 mph. He held it to within 3 mph of that speed for 10 minutes.

"Ok, Speedy, lets see how fast you can really go." Annabeth muttered to herself. She hit the green, and the speed instantly went from 769,000 soaring up to 1,987,000 and climbing, the instruments stopped reading, and a loud explosion went off, followed by crashing sounds. Rachel pointed in horror to the remains of the exploded treadmill, as well as the giant hole in the wall behind in.

"Oh gods…." Annabeth said fearfully. She and Rachel ran outside and looked into the forest to see a line of trees split in half as far as the eye could see. Rachel took off into the forest, and Annabeth ran to get Chiron. On the way, who should she bump into but Percy.

"Hey, whoa Wise Girl slow down! Wheres Micah and Rachel?" he asked. Annabeth merely pointed at the destruction behind them. Percy instantly hardened his expression

"Let's go." he said as they both took off to get Chiron.

BREAK*

When Micah finally opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was red spots in his vision. He tried to sit up, only to realize he couldn't. He looked down at his body, and had to instantly look away. His body looked, well, exactly what you would expect a body vaulted at 2,000,000 mph through an innumerable amount of trees to look like. Smushed and bloody. Mostly bloody.

"Well, this sucks." he said with a little less care than most. He heard rustling, and Rachel screaming his name. She burst into the clearing, and also instantly looked away. She was somewhere between convulsing and bursting into tears when Chiron, Annabeth, and Percy caught up. Annabeth covered her mouth in horror, while Percy panicked

"Oh man, just….just hang in there ok? I'll go get help." Percy exasperated as he was about to run back to camp

"That won't be necessary." Micah said a little too calmly

'This is the part that sucks' he whispered to himself. Percy and Annabeth had seen things they thought would haunt them forever. But even Tartarus did not match the disgustingness of what they witnessed next. Micah's body somehow started coming back together. His arms snapping and grinding back into place, his neck popping straight again. His legs squished and scraped back into place, his vertebrae each making a sickening snap as they wretched back together forcefully. His splintered legs ground back together, and the giant gashes all over his body slowly healed, until all that remained of the aforementioned bloodbath was a giant puddle of blood where he once lay, and a giant scar on his now-bare chest. They all stood abhorred at what they had just witnessed.

"Ok that hurt pretty good," Micah said tiredly. Silence. Percy was the first to break it.

"Um, well… why don't we get you to the sick bay and have you checked out?" he whispered, still shocked. Micah shook his head

"Won't be necessary, PJ, but I appreciate the thoughtfulness….. got any food in this place? I starving." Micah stretched his 'new' body. He looked at his clothes, his shirt completely gone and his shorts barely covering him.

"First clothes, then food." he said strategically. Percy nodded.

"Yeah… yeah sure. Let's get you some clothes. Percy and Micah walked back to camp, leaving Annabeth to ponder what they just witnessed. Rachel was too busy emptying the contents of her stomach behind a tree. Annabeth's thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. She looked at the caller ID; Superboy. Jason. She answered the phone slowly, shaking the image of Micah's recovery out of her head.

"Hey Jason."

"Annabeth hey! I talked to the others, and they agree. Tell Percy we'll be there tomorrow."


	10. Chapter 10: We All Need Some Alone Time

Annabeth, Chiron, and Rachel all walked back to camp together, Annabeth questioning Chiron about Micah.

"I've never seen anything like it. He… he should have been…"

"Dead? Yes, as harsh as it sounds, even a demigod should have died from an accident like that" He commented. Rachel played with the ruby necklace still around her neck, thinking. When they got to the Mess Hall, They were greeted by another unbelievable sight: Micah eating. Around him were stacked at least 20 plates, all cleaned off thoroughly. Percy spotted them and waded through the crowd, then helped the girls to the table. Micah noticed them and simply nodded. Clarisse stepped up to them, jaw hanging.

"Please tell me that's not who I think it is." she growled. The 2 shook their heads.

"Nope. Super weird coincidence. But that's not him, Clarisse." Percy reassured. They all sat next to Micah as he consumed inhuman amounts of food. When he noticed them, he smiled.

"Hey, what took you so long? The food here is great!" He said cheerfully. Seeing Annabeth's expression, he answered her unspoken question.

"Super enhanced regeneration. Only works in life-or-death situations, and takes up a heck of a lot of energy. So, yeah, after a huge heal I get extremely hungry. And I can't run as fast until my blood sugar levels are back up to par." he slurred between bites. He ate at least 20 more plates, then stood up and walked outside.

"Hey, uh, I need some time to think." he said over his shoulder as he walked. The door slammed behind him, causing a momentary silence to fill the room. A few seconds later, everything went back to normal.

"Does he realize that's…" Clarisse started

"Against camp rules? Yeah, no I don't think he does. I'll talk to him." Percy said cooly. He followed Micah out, only to find he was long gone. Percy looked around, then sighed.

"So much for slowing down for a while." he said to himself as he walked back inside to eat. After they all ate, they had some free time. Percy and Annabeth looked around for Micah, finally having some alone time while they walked.

"So, you ok?" Percy asked. Annabeth looked at him, sorrow evident in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she said after a few moments. Percy looked at her in disbelief.

"Come one, Wise Girl, you know I know you better than that. Talk to me." he said, throwing his arm over her shoulder. He used his trump card: Percy's Puppy Face. It worked every time. She sighed and rolled her eyes, unable to hide the tiny smile appearing on her face.

"Ok, so maybe i'm not completely ok…" she admitted.

"It's just… it's hard, you know? I'd….finally moved on, at least I thought so. I was so happy. Being with you, going to school together, It was amazing. Then… then he showed up; so much like Luke… I can't help but hurt. He walks, talks, and looks just like him. I… I honestly wish he didn't." she choked. Percy turned her around and buried her in a hug. She cried for a few moments, before calming down.

"Hey," he said softly, tilting her head up to meet his. He gently put a hand on her cheek and wiped a stray tear.

"I know its hard, trust me I know. But you aren't alone. You'll always have me Annabeth. I promise. We'll get through this together." he whispered softly. This time, she squeezed him, burying her face in his chest.

"You're all I'll ever need, Percy Jackson." she whispered back. He smiled and kissed her gently. After a few moments she stepped back. She merely looked at him, and he smiled.

"This goes nowhere?" he chuckled

"Not a place." she giggled right back. Percy extended his hand, and she took it. They walked hand in hand, searching for their new friend.

BREAK*

Micah sat on the roof of the Big House, overlooking the whole camp.

'What am I doing?' he mentally questioned himself. He was a survivor. His whole life, the only thing he had to worry about was his own safety. Now, he was tasked with working with a whole team to save all of western civilization from some monstrous primordial being. He wasn't ready for that. He would fight to keep himself alive, and if he could maybe a few people here and there. But putting ALL those lives on his shoulder? That was a task he didn't think he could succeed at alone. He pulled off his ring, feeling it become Δήμιος in his hands. He looked at the blade, then back out over the camp.

'Not my problem.' he unsuccessfully tried to convince himself. He recalled a fond memory of his old sensei. When he was 13, he began taking jeet kune do at an unmarked dojo. His sensei was a kind man, allowing him to train in exchange for Micah cleaning the place up. He was very wise ,and Micah would never forget his words:

'It is the duty of the powerful to protect the weak.'

Micah sighed sadly. He missed his sensei. He was right, if you were given power, you should protect those who weren't.

'But, I can't do this alone. The weight of the world on my shoulders? That's not possible.' he thought.

'But you won't be alone,' the other side of his conscious argued,

'The prophecy said that a TEAM would save the world.' Micah stood up and zoomed back to the ground.

"I'll sleep on it." he decided, setting off to find the rest of the group. He found them all around some weird looking campfire, singing. He waited just outside until Chiron announced it was time to prepare for bed, and the mass of campers started piling out. Percy spotted him and jogged over.

"Hey man we looked all over for you! You ok?" he asked. Micah nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just needed some time." They heard hooves hitting the ground, and turned to see Chiron trotting over.

"Ah, there you are Micah. I was just about to tell you that, since you haven't been claimed by your godly parent, you will be staying in the Hermes cabin. Percy will lead the way."

"No offense, but I'm not a people's person, and Cabin 11 looks pretty crowded." Micah said, a look of distaste written all over his face. Chiron looked at him curiously.

"How'd you know it was Cabin 11?" he asked slyly. Micah simply held up Chiron's personal camp journal. Chiron looked at him for a few moments, and Micah got the memo. Right before all of their eyes, the book seemed to 'reappear' right back where it was.

"I suppose we can make an exception and let you stay in the lounge." he finally said. Micah half smiled.

"Thanks Mr. Chiron." Just then, Dionysus walked by on his way back to his office. As soon as he saw Micah, he spewed out the Diet Coke in his mouth, looking at Micah with awe and horror.

"You...you're the Lyte… OUR Lyte! That means that…. Oh crap no!" Micah looked at Dionysus, then at Chiron.

"Um…. And he is…" Micah questioned.

"Our Camp Director, Mr. D," Chiron said. Micah got a weird feeling when he looked at Mr. D. Annoyance. He kept it at bay as best he could

"That means what Mr. D? What does me being here mean?" Dionysus started to sweat, and looked around. He leaned real close.

"Look, Peter and I,"

"Percy. You...you know it's Percy" Percy said in disbelief.

"Yeah him too. Look, we go way back, so I'll tell you this. You being here means one thing and one thing only, kid. War. It means that…" Dionysus was cut off by the eruption of thunder overhead.

"ALRIGHT ALREADY GEEZ!!!" He screamed at the sky, then sighed.

"Look kids, this ain't like Kronos and Gaea. This is worse. Far far worse. That's all the big guy'll let me say right now." he started to walk away, when he turned to the group once more

"You take care of yourself, Micah. We'll be watching." With that, Dionysus seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving them with a little more knowledge of the horror to come.


	11. Chapter 11: Truth Be Told

That night, Micah had a horrific nightmare. He was floating in a dark void in the middle of nowhere, alone. He could feel absolute loneliness gripping at his very soul. Utter lifelessness penetrated his bones, and depression his mind. Every thought he could conjure up was only suffering continually. It was the definition of agony. From this depth, a voice rang throughout.

"Thats right, boy; breathe it in. This is where your so-called 'friends' will lead you. This is how it ends for you unless you leave well enough alone. There is no stopping me, child. Gods and men alike have begged for this judgement for millennia. And I am the bringer of their Salvation. I will be their cleansing waters of destruction. And if you dare challenge me, this is where you are destined to be. Now go: make your choice. I know what you shall do. But for the rest of eternity you will spend suffering, you will never be able to say you weren't warned." The Darkness bellowed at Micah. For a split second, Micah could feel its presence. It felt like the incarnation of mayhem and disorder. And it was overwhelming. Its sheer power made Micah feel like he was going crazy. He felt his head spin, his very thoughts warring against one another. He sat up in a cold sweat, the things words still swirling around in his head. He felt for his ring, and felt a little better when he felt is on his finger. He sat up and rubbed his face tiredly.

'Well, THAT sure helps my decision.' he thought nervously. For a split second, he was half tempted to run away from camp, but he stopped himself. He thought of his 3 new friends, then of the rest of the West. So defenseless. Without a clue of what was coming. No way to stop it even if they did know. Then he thought of the being that had just spoken to him. It felt… infinite. Unending, untameable raw power. There was no running from that thing. No amount of superspeed would get him far enough away from that thing to be safe. So what? I fight it? That sounded just as crazy. No one can fight that. He laid back down, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

BREAK*

Percy woke up and stretched, looking out the window to see brilliant sunrays coming through… right into his eyes. He was about to roll over and go back to sleep, when he remembered.

'Crap.' he mumbled as he hurried to get ready as fast as he could. He ran to the Big House and found Micah just coming outside. He wore a camp shirt and khaki shorts that Chiron had supplied him with the night before.

"Hey, Micah! You ready to go?" Percy asked. Last night, Percy had asked Micah if he would join them for combat practice, and Micah agreed. After all, what else did he have to do? So together they headed to the beach for some agility practice. But when they got there, no one was around. Micah shot Percy a confused look. He simply smiled and called out.

"Hey guys, come out here and meet him!" From the forest behind them, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank stepped out, led by Reyna. Annabeth was with them as well, standing next to Percy and the rest of the group.

"Well, Micah, you said it yourself; you can't work with a team of strangers. So, I'd like to formally introduce you to the 7 Warriors." One by one, they all shook hands and introduced themselves. After they were introduced, Micah sighed and smiled.

"So, you really want me to join your group?" He said quietly. Jason put a hand on his shoulder.

"Prophecies don't lie, dude; if it says we need you, we NEED you." Micah said nothing, but thought about what happened last night. Then he looked at the group in front of him, all staring at him intently. They genuinely wanted him on their team.

'No, not on their team,' Micah thought with a smile 'In their family' He finally decided, and spoke up.

"Sure. I'm in. What's the worst that could happen?" With that, Frank pulled him into a giant bear hug.

"Welcome the family, brother!" he said happily. When he let go, Micah took a good long look at the group.

"What. The heck. Am I looking at." he stated. They were all confused until suddenly, there was a loud roar, and the group looked up to see Leo and Calypso riding Festus. Ever since the whole Mother Earth incident, he and Calypso had been traveling the globe together sightseeing. Leo jumped down and yelled

"Hola! Mi casa! Tell me I didn't miss anything?" he asked. They all chuckled, except for Micah, who stared intently at Calypso, who was trying to avoid eye contact. Micah finally spoke up.

"Calypso. It's been a while." he said flatly.

"So it has." she said with equal lifelessness. Leo looked back and forth between them, a shocked look on his and everyone else's faces.

"Wait, you KNOW him?!?" Leo said surprisingly.

"Yeah. It was a long time ago, kid. No need to feel threatened. I'm over it." he said with finality. She did not show any emotion, but Leo could tell something was wrong. They stared each other down, waiting for one to back down.

"So…. Moving right along…." Leo said nervously. "Yall rang for me?"

"Yeah, um.. Percy could you explain?" Micah asked, breaking his stare. He turned and started walking down the beach. They all looked at one another, confusedly. Reyna felt an odd want to follow Micah down the beach. She saw the war-worn look in his eyes; he had fought many a battle. It was the same look she saw every morning when she looked in the mirror. Calypso. stomped down the other side of the beach.

"I'll take him.." Annabeth started.

"No, I'll talk to him. I never was good with titans." Reyna said. Annabeth nodded, and took off towards Calypso. While the rest of the group explained to Leo the situation, Reyna caught up with Micah.

"Um, hey. Im Reyna. We were never introduced." she started, sticking out her hand. Micah stopped walking and gently took her hand in a handshake.

"Micah." he said quietly, then continued walking down the beach. He didn't seem angry, but he did look like he was thinking. They walked in silence, until Micah broke it.

"Why." he asked simply. She looked at him in confusion.

"Why what?"

"Why did you follow me out here?"

'Good question. Why DID I follow him out here?' she thought.

"Because you looked like you could use a friend." she finally said. He stopped and looked her right in the eyes. She felt like he was searching her very soul for the answers he wanted, which made the kind of uncomfortable. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, he looked away. More silence.

"You've seen alot of pain in your life, haven't you Miss Reyna?" he asked. She felt herself getting nervous.

"I suppose. When you've lived through a war with Mother Earth, you see plenty of pain"

"That's not the kind of pain I'm talking about." he said softly. Reyna couldn't help her eyes quickly darting to Jason.

"How long ago?" he whispered. She looked at him, eyebrows knit.

"How long ago what?"

"How long ago did he break your heart?" He asked. She felt the blood leave her face, and her pulse quicken.

'Who IS this guy?' she wondered.

"3 years ago, Los Angeles. I was fighting some giant, 1 eyed monster. It wasn't too hard, he was super slow. Suddenly, he turns to a little girl standing nearby. Ruthless thing. I barely got in front of him in time." Micah recalled.

"He got a cheap shot on me, and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was on a beach. With her." he pointed to Calypso.

"She helped me recover, fed me well. We became friends. Then she asked me to stay. The world had nothing for me, I was alone. So I said yes. She seemed happy at first, until I started… moving." he said sadly.

"Moving, what do…." Reyna started. Micah simply held out his arm, and vibrated his hand. It went so fast it started to steam, and sounded like an electronic back massager. Her eyes got huge, but Micah continued, fighting to control his emotions.

"She said she didn't know, and that she knew it was too good to be true. She...she told me we couldn't be together because the gods had a plan for me… told me I was special. By then I understood. So I left, hoping to never see her again. Now, here she is, man in tow." he finished, hurt in his voice. He stood up and walked to the shore, then sat with his feet barely touching the water. Reyna waited for a moment, then joined him. She took a deep breath, then spoke.

"It was at the beginning of the titan war. Before it had begun, Jason and I were both praetors of Camp Jupiter, a roman Half-Blood camp. We were very good friends, and one night, he asks me if I would like to go on a walk with him, so I agreed. We… we stopped on a hill, and laid back, looking at the stars for hours. He… he kissed me that night, under the stars, and I thought I had finally found the one. Then he disappears, taken by Juno to help bring our 2 camps together against Gaea. When he comes back, he's with Piper. I...I couldn't believe it. But I pushed it down, let it go, tried to forget. Until now, I guess." she finished, tears in her eyes. She refused to cry, she wouldn't. Micah stood up and extended his hand to help her. She took and stood as well.

"I guess we've both been hurt, huh?" he asked no one in particular. "Reyna, I know how hard it can be to swallow feelings. You don't have to with me. It's not good to keep it bottled up." he said soothingly. He looked at her and smiled lightly.

"Puedes confiar en mí, Reyna" he whispered kindly. She looked at him, eyes wide. Finally, she cried. For the first time since she saw Jason with Piper, she genuinely cried. She could feel all the pent up anger and hurt pour out with each tear. Micah grabbed her in a hug, and she returned it. They stood there for a while, until she stepped back and smiled.

"Thanks, Micah. If you wouldn't mind…"

"I won't tell a soul." he promised. They walked back to the group together, Reyna wondering just who this guy really was. They had almost reached them, when a sickening scream pierced the air. Micah looked over to Percy, who nodded. Together, the group charged towards the forest to find out just what was causing all he fear and panic.


	12. Chapter 12: Making Teamwork Work

When they reached the clearing, they saw a young 10 year old girl fallen on the ground, screaming. She was pointing at a giants beast that was ravaging the forest. It had at least fifty arms and 100 eyes. It advanced towards the girl, raising its foot to crush her. Micah flashed over in a purple blur and grabbed her out from under its foot just as it slammed down. He flew back to the group and gently set the scared girl down.

"Whoa, dude!" Leo commented. "You're like…. Quicksilver!!" he said amazedly. Micah scoffed

"Quicksilver wishes he was me." he mumbled. Leo smirked and pulled a giant mallet out of his toolbelt.

"Confidence...I can dig it!" Leo grined.

"I HAVE BEEN SENT FOR YOU, LYTE. MY MASTER WOULD HAVE YOU DESTROYED!!" The creature spoke deeply, its voice rumbling in their chests.

"Over my dead body, chump." Micah growled.

"People, I think we have a live one. Strike a pose guys!" Leo said smiling. Everyone either groaned or rolled their eyes. Jason flipped and caught Islivs as a spear, Percy uncapped Riptide, Micah pulled off Δήμιος, Annabeth drew her dagger, Hazel pulled her spatha out of its sheath, Piper pulled out her blade, Frank drew his bow, and Reyna pulled out a gladius. The beast bellowed at them angrily.

Micah sped in, slashing at its feet. Frank shot an arrow at the thing, but one of its arms caught it before the arrow could do any damage. It reached out suddenly and grabbed Micah, vaulting him into the forest. Reyna and Hazel charged the left side, Annabeth and Piper the right, while Jason and Percy took it head-on. The creature's arms seemed to move inhumanly, it fighting them from all angles. Jason called down a thunderbolt, striking it right in it head. It staggered back, when Micah came flying out of the forest, stabbing the monster in the chest. They all regrouped, Leo and Frank holding it at bay shooting arrows and throwing hammers.

"Umm… ok I'll admit, not as easy as I initially thought.." Leo said, chucking another hammer.

"It's too quick. We can't keep up, it has too many arms." Annabeth gasped, out of breath.

"It's not to quick for me." Micah said, clenching his fist, a purple aura around him. He turned to the group.

"I'll get ugly's attention, you flank. Hit him hard!" he yelled as he took off again, slashing and slicing all over the creature. It yelled in annoyance, swatting with its many hands all over. Percy looked over to see Zephyros Creek. He raised a wave, and slammed a water fist into the beast's face. Jason raised his spear, lightning striking it. He flew up high, then shot straight at it, slamming his spear as deep as he could into its stomach. Reyna charged and sliced on if its arms clean off, but caught another to the chest, sending her sprawling. For Micah, all of this seemed to take days, so when he saw Reyna get hit, he rushed over, caught her seemingly unmoving body out of mid-air, and ran her over to safety. Time for Micah flowed normally for a moment.

"Rey, you alright?" He questioned. She nodded. Micah handed her her sword. Suddenly, one of the creatures unkempt fingernails drove through Micah's left shoulder. He yelled in pain, grabbing the 3 inch hole in his shoulder. Reyna sliced off its finger, then knelt next to him. Blood was pouring down his arm.

"Oh my gods!" she panicked. He ripped off his shirt, and peeled off the sleeve. He picked up a stick, bit it, and shoved the wadded cloth into the hole, groaning loudly in agony. He then took another strip off and tied it tightly overtop of the wound. His face was pale and clammy, but he stood up slowly.

"I'm fine, Reyna. We've got work to do." he whispered painfully, then took off again, slashing away. Meanwhile Leo put away his hammers and raised his hands, fire in the palm of each.

"HEY FATTY!" Leo screamed. The beast turned to him.

"YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE THE MAIN COURSE ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF COOKIN IN THE KITCHEN WITH CHEF LEO, BABY!" He threw his hands forwards, bathing the creature in flames. Hazel slid underneath it, using her giant spatha to take a huge chunk into its leg. Annabeth saw her opening.

"Percy! Boost!" she screamed. Percy extended a hand, the river making a ramp of sorts. Annabeth ran up it, surprised by the fact that it felt solid. She jumped off and stabbed the thing in the back, sliding down and creating a giant gash on its back. The 8 regrouped, standing together in front of it.

"Guys, I have a plan. It's a stupid plan, but it's a plan." Micah said. Jason smiled.

"See? He fits right in!" Jason commented. The thing roared.

"Leo, how hot can you get?" Micah asked. Leo shrugged.

"I got a group of nymphs to join Team Leo once…" he said. Micah gave him an 'idiot-you-best-answer-the-freaking-question-and-stop-trying-to-be-cute-before-I-slap-you' look

"I don't know. Why?" he answered.

"You and me are gonna create a vacuum. The flames will burn out the oxygen, suffocating it. You spray, I run." he explained. "Everyone else, keep it busy." Leo lit up, Frank by his side.

"I'll keep it off you." he explained. Leo lit up, and started spraying fire onto the beast. Micah started running around it, a flame tornado rising around it. Soon, the flame vortex rose well above the monster, Frank skewering any hand that tried to hit them.

"MICAH, YOU'VE GOT TO CLOSE IT OFF!" Jason screamed. Micah ran faster, the flames giving off a purple hue. The top started slowly closing. When it was almost closed, Jason shot one more bolt into it, just as it shut, creating a loud bang that threw them all back. When the dust had cleared, they saw the creature still standing there. For a moment it looked unharmed, but soon dropped to its knees and disintegrated into nothing.

"How the heck did that thing get in here?" Leo asked. No one answered.

"I think its time the Super Friends went all Chuck Norris on this quest"

Leo continued. Micah nodded, his eyes barely opened. Reyna looked at the 'bandage' it was soaked in what she could only assume was blood.

"First, we gather supplies from here. Then we'll go to Camp Jupiter so you guys can pack." Percy stated. "I'll tell Chiron. Rest up for now, guys. We've got a long road ahead." They all walked towards the Big House, Micah stopping to pick up the girl, who had passed out from pure fear. He took her to the sick bay, staggering weakly the whole way. Reyna, being the only one who saw what had happened, followed. Micah set the girl down gently, as she was just waking up. Her eyes whipped open, and she looked around in a start.

"It's ok… you're ok." Micah slurred weakly. He tried to stand, but fell sideways into the wall. Reyna rushed in, laying him gently on the ground, putting his head in her lap. He was barely conscious.

"Hang on lady, I'll go get Will!" the girl said as she took off running. A few minutes later, Will showed up, along with the other 7.

"He's bleeding out." Reyna said worriedly. Jason, Will, and Percy all picked him up and put him on the table. Will undid the wrapping of Micahs. He looked at him sorrowfully.

"If you can hear me, this is gonna hurt. Alot." Will finished, then grabbed the wad of shirt in the wound and pulled it out. Micah tensed up in pain. Will held out the blood-saturated cloth, Annabeth grabbing the waste basket. The last thing Micah heard before he blacked out was "Ambrosia and Nectar". Then everything went black.


	13. Chapter 13: Walk It Off

Micah felt his consciousness float away from his body. He heard the same dark voice as in his dream speaking once again.

"Pain and misery, boy, that's all they will bring you. Did I not warn you of the suffering they would cause? Do you take me for a liar child?" It erupted all around. Again Micah felt what could only be described as pure insanity coursing through his veins. He grabbed his head, trying to regain control.

"Get out of my head!!" Micah commanded. The pain only intensified.

"NO ONE COMMANDS ME BOY!! I HAVE NO MASTER!!" It raged. Micah felt like every fiber of his being was burning up. He was in utter pain.

"WHY ARE YOU EVEN DOING THIS, BOY?? WHAT HAVE THE OLYMPIANS EVER DONE FOR YOU?? TO THEM, YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A FREAK CREATION!!"

"This….isn't about them." Micah croaked, trying desperately to hold onto his sanity.

"You cannot resist me, child. You are a mere ant in the presence of a giant." For a few moments there was silence. Then Micah smirked and looked up at the formless mass of darkness

"Won't stop me from trying" he said smugly. The intense pain surged through his body once again.

"VERY WELL, LYTE. HAVE IT YOUR WAY!!!"

IN THE SICK BAY*

Reyna was sitting in the chair next to Micah's bed, feeding him ambrosia and nectar every hour. He had been passed out for 4 days. For 4 days, Reyna ate while watching Micah, Slept minimal hours, and hardly moved from her chair. She was starting to drift off into sleep, when Micah's body tensed up, sweat pouring down his face. She rushed over, feeling his forehead. He was burning up. She ran outside. A camper was walking by, whistling. Reyna grabbed his shoulder.

"Go get Will Solace. Now!" The boy nodded, then took off running. Reyna rushed back into the room. Micah was thrashing around, mumbling inaudibly. She stood next to him worriedly. Will burst in.

"Something's wrong. He's going into shock." He rushed over, lifting his eyelids, checking his eyes with a flashlight.

"Reyna, Get me 5 ml of Norepinephrine." he commanded.

"Top shelf, right corner." he instructed. She grabbed the bottle, and put 5ml into a hypodermic needle. She handed the needle to Will, who injected it into Micah's arm. He started to settle down, and Will let out a sigh. He used a cool cloth, and wiped Micah's brow. He turned to Reyna

"He should be fine now." he looked Reyna up and down.

"Which is less than I can say for you. Why dont you go rest, Reyna, I'll take over watching him. She shook her head.

"Im fine, Will. Thanks for the offer." she said tiredly. He rolled his eyes, smirking. He opened a drawer underneath one of the cabinets, pulling out a pillow and blanket. He went into the broom closet, rolling out a super fluffy recliner.

"We call it the Instant Annabed. She used to stay here for days watching Percy heal. So the camp put this little...package together so she could sleep." he smiled and tossed her the pillow and blanket. She smiled back and sat down in the recliner.

"Thanks Will." she yawned, trying in vain to stay awake. Will slowly closed the door, already hearing Reyna's soft, slow breathing.

MICAHS SUBCONSCIOUS*

Micah felt the pain slowly receding. He took in a deep breath, finally able to take a full breath again.

"Well, boy. Looks like your precious friends found a way to weaken the mental link between us. Clever. Leave my presence, but be warned. If you dare take up this quest, this war… I will make you suffer in ways you couldn't even imagine." It growled. With that, the Darkness "pulled away", and Micah felt himself float back into his body. The first thing he felt when he woke up was pain. Since this was not a life-and-death situation, his shoulder was healing normally. Which sucked. His arm had healed some, but he could feel there was still a hole in his shoulder. It was in a sling, wrapped neatly with gauze. Micah tried to recall what had happened before he had passed out. He looked over and saw Reyna sleeping peacefully in a recliner. He couldn't help but smile as he slowly got off of the bed. He noticed her blanket on the floor, and saw her shivering a little. He picked it up with his good arm, and covered her up. She hummed lightly.

"Thanks for everything, ReyRey." he whispered. He quietly snuck out the door. It was 2:00 am, and the air was a perfect 55F. He looked around, then started slowly walking towards Half-Blood Hill. He needed some time to think. He kept walking straight out of the Camp borders, still hobbling because if his arm.

BREAK*

Reyna woke up slowly, and looked around.

'Where am I? Oh, yeah…. sickbay. Wait, crap! I forgot to feed Micah his ambrosia and nectar!' she thought, suddenly wide awake. She threw the blanket off of her, and stood up to…

'He's gone.' she thought calmly, her brain still processing the fact.

"HE'S GONE!" she screamed, and took off out the door, looking around wildly. She checked the mess hall, the cabin area, everywhere. She went and got Percy, who in turn got together the 7, Chiron, Will, and Rachel, who had just gotten back from some art expo. Percy told everyone where they were going to search. Rachel and Reyna were tasked with the shore. They traveled up the whole length, talking the whole way.

"So, he's pretty cool, huh?" Rachel started.

"Who, Micah? Yeah, I guess he's ok." Reyna said nonchalantly. Rachel nodded.

"You goin on 'the quest'?" Rachel asked.

"No, no, I just came to represent Camp Jupiter while Jason and the others were here. No, After they head off on their quest, I'm heading back."

"That sucks." Rachel commented. Reyna shrugged.

"It had its ups and downs." she said worriedly, playing with her hair nervously. Rachel stopped her.

"Hey, we'll find him, Reyna. Don't worry." They walked for about an hour, when they had to turn around and go back. They met up with the rest of the group, none of which had found anything. Reyna was especially worried. She was supposed to keep watch! They continued searching all throughout the day. One thing was for sure, Micah was nowhere around or in the camp. Reyna trudged into the Big House slowly. She went into the back room, and laid down to sleep. They had searched all day. Nothing. She barely slept that night, and in the early morning, when the sun was barely coming up, she walked outside and started searching again. She walked up Half-Blood Hill, and looked all around.

'Where did you go?' she thought sorrowfully. She sat down and hugged her head to her knees, gazing out at the road. In the distance, she saw a figure, hobbling towards the hill slowly. She stood up, wiping away tears she didn't know she was crying. She rushed out to meet Micah.

"Hey, Reyna. Sorry I was gone, I got lost at the…" he was interrupted by getting slapped hard across the face.

"Que rayos!" Micah swore. She then grabbed him in a hug.

"Thearmthearmthearm" Micah said through grit teeth. He held out his good arm, and she softly hugged that side. She then stepped back and slapped the other side of his face.

"FOR REAL!?!" he said surprisingly.

"HOW DARE YOU LEAVE WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING!!!" she exasperated. Micah scoffed.

"Reyna, Im 18. Ive lived on my own for 10 years. If I want to go for a walk, I don't see what the big…" Reyna shoved him by the chest up against a nearby tree. She pulled out her leg dagger, and slammed it into the tree next to his head. She stared him right in the eyes, daring him to speak.

"Yes ma'am." he chuckled "Next time I'll leave a note." she pulled the dagger out of the tree.

"Good. Now, go take a shower. You stink." she stepped closer and whispered

"And if you ever even DREAM of being stupid like this again, I will take you out back and brand you." With that, she left to tell the others that he was ok, and Micah, for some reason unknown to himself, went and took a shower.


	14. Chapter 14: 1UP

For the next few weeks, Micah watched as the other 7 and Reyna all trained together to prepare for their quest. They practiced all sorts of advanced sword maneuvers, but still laughed and had a good time doing it. Frank would put Leo in a headlock, making him say 'uncle', Percy and Jason would argue over who was the strongest, Piper and Annabeth breaking up the fight, and they would all spar one another. Micah sat on a log off in the distance, watching them practice. He was deep in thought when Rachel came over and sat down next to him.

"Hey, um… Micah?" she asked. He turned and faced her.

"Sup, Red?" She took off the ruby necklace she had gotten from her quest to find him.

"I had a dream last night…. The Oracle told me to give this to you. Said you would know what to do." He took the necklace and put it on.

"Thanks, Rachel." he said. She looked at his arm. Though not instant, his body still healed much faster than the average person. All that was left of the once-gaping hole in his arm was a ping-pong ball sized pink scar. He noticed she was looking, and chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. I'm pretty sure I've painted the ground with more of my blood than anyone else here." he sighed. He looked out at the team… his team. His family. He felt an odd sensation, like he would do whatever it takes to protect them.

"They sure know what they're doing, huh?" Rachel commented. Micah smiled. Percy and Reyna were arguing over the best fighting technique.

"I'm just wondering who's gonna take lead; Percy or Reyna. Probably both." Rachel just stared.

"Um… Reyna's not going." She said. Micah looked over in surprise.

"What? Why?" he asked. Rachel shrugged.

"She wasn't part of the prophecy. That means that she doesn't go on the quest. Plus, she has her duty as a praetor at Camp Jupiter, so...yeah. As soon as you guys are ready to go, she's gonna head back to her Camp." She explained. Just then, they called it quits for the day. Percy walked over to Micah, smiling.

"Hey, Mikey, have Will check out your arm tonight. If he says it's ok, you can join us for training tomorrow. We head out Friday, so if you started tomorrow you could get 5 days in." Micah nodded. Percy started to walk away, when Micah called out.

"Hey, PJ," Percy turned. "Reyna.. she's not coming on the quest?" he asked. Percy shook his head.

"That would be nice, but no." he answered. He kept walking towards the showers.

'Why do I feel like… like it's wrong that she's not coming?' he questioned himself. He headed to the showers as well, thinking the whole way. For the next 5 days, Micah trained with them, his classical Japanese swordsmanship easily keeping up with the others' Roman and Greek styles. For one of their "exercises", which were really just games, they had a 4-on-4 bout. It was hard fought, Micah's superspeed being unallowed. The whole time, he could not help but notice Reyna. She seemed to get more and more sorrowful as the week drug on. By the time Friday rolled around, her entire atmosphere seemed to change. She went from confident and cheerful to gloomy. They all agreed to take the day off and relax before they headed off on their ultimate quest. They spent the day swimming at the beach, playing poker at lunch, playing capture the flag, 9-vs-the rest of camp. Not much of a game, with the 'Superfriends' winning 4/4 games. They were all laughing and having a good time, watching the sunset on the beach. Reyna was smiling, but they could all tell that she was unhappy. Micah sat watching, twirling his ring, thinking. Finally, Micah stood up. He walked over and knelt facing Reyna. Her face had confusion written all over it. The 7 also noticed, everyone watching what was taking place.

"Do you want to come, Reyna?" Micah asked

"I...I dont understand…."

"Reyna, do you want to come on this quest?" he repeated.

"I mean…. Well I…" she stuttered. Micah turned to Percy.

"It said 10, not including me, right?" he asked. Percy smiled and nodded, catching on.

"Indeed it did, Mikey." he affirmed. Micah turned back to Reyna. She looked into his eyes curiously. Micah reached back and took off the ruby necklace, which was now glowing a bright red.

"May I?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, um… yeah." Reyna replied, her face reddening ever so slightly as she pulled back her hair. He reached around her and put the necklace on her.

"Rey, your battle prowess, knowledge of Roman culture, and weapon expertise would make you an invaluable member of the team, and personally… I just don't think the team is a whole without you." he explained as he put the necklace on her.

"So I'm gonna ask you one more time." he smirked deviously.

"Reyna, would you like to come with us and save the world?" She looked around at them excitedly.

"Of course!!! Oh my gods yes!!" she finally said. The 7 and Micah cheered, obviously happy with Micah's choice.

"Then welcome to Team Harakiri" he said kindly. Annabeth looked at her watch.

"Guys, we need to get to bed. It's a long way to Camp Jupiter, and we gotta get there and let these guys pack before we can head off." She commanded. Percy made a hand-fart.

"LAME!!! COME ON, BETH!! DON'T GO ALL MOM ON ME!!" He said bratayley. She got up, but he was already running down towards the ocean.

"FREEDOM!!!" He screamed, the whole group save Annabeth cracking up.

"OH NO YOU DON'T PERSEUS JACKSON! I'LL JUST GO ALL PSYCHO MURDERER ON YOU INSTEAD!!!" She bellowed angrily, jumping into the ocean after him. The rest of the group was rolling in laughter.

"We are totally gonna obey, aren't we?" Leo asked while chuckling.

"Definitely." Micah said

"Absolutely" Frank said frankly

"Was there ever really any other option?" Hazel commented.

"I ain't messin with that!" Reyna stated.

"Do you WANT to die?" Jason questioned

"I like my non-broken legs" Piper affirmed.

They all got up and headed towards their respective cabins, preparing for what was to be their greatest journey yet.

BREAK*

Annabeth came up for air, then drug herself onto the shore.

"PERCY JACKSON I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!!! GET YOUR SEAWEED BUTT UP HERE NOW!!!" She bellowed. She could barely make out the top of Percy's head, poking out of the water like a hippo.

"Percy, If you come out now, I won't completely kill you." she reasoned. He shook his head, sloshing water.

"Nuh uh. I want kisses too." he pouted playfully.

"I'll think about it." she said seductively. He stepped out of the water, and slowly walked over to her, until they were mere inches apart. They came in for a kiss, when Annabeth pulled back unexpectedly and slapped the back of his head. He looked surprised and angry.

"You promised me kisses!!" he whined rejected.

"I said I'd think about it. It was a no." she whispered devilishly.

"YOU ARE A VERY DARK, DECEIVING WOMAN!" He cried out, stomping off towards his cabin. She laughed until she cried, then herself headed towards the Athena cabin.

'Man, I love that boy' she thought happily

'Gods, I love that girl' Percy thought merrily


	15. Chapter 15: Roadtrippin'

Micah packed his, Percy, and Annabeth's stuff into a 2005 Chevy 3500 within seconds.

"And Argus, you're sure you can drive this?" Chion questioned as the 9 piled in, Leo claiming back seat and already talking about 'rocking this boat' at every red light. Argus nodded confidently. Chiron looked into the van, smiling.

"Best of luck, heroes." he smiled. Argus got in, started it up, and just like that they were off, first to Camp Jupiter to pick up Jason's and the others' things. In the farthest seat sat Leo, Frank, and Jason; one row up Percy and Micah, in the third row Hazel sat by one window and Piper the other. In the front row, Reyna played with her dagger, and Annabeth typed away wildly on her laptop. It was quiet for about 30 minutes, until Leo broke it.

"Sooooo….." he dragged out.

"Nooooo…." Hazel answered .

"This quest…. Who's we killin this time? Tartarus? Father Time? Santa?" Leo joked.

"Hey, check this out." Annabeth commented, tipping her screen towards them. They all crowded around it. She turned up the volume on a video she was watching.

"... the pandamonium continues as this virus outbreak continues to spread throughout the west coast. This disease seems to be causing all those infected to lose their sanity, Rioting in the streets and mercilessly attacking one another. No other side effects have been found thus far, but we'll keep you posted. Paige Southerland, Channel 5 News." the reporter ended. They all sat for a moment.

"That's no disease. Whatever it is that's causing this, I'd say it's safe to bet its working with this 'Primordial Power' the prophecy speaks of" Percy stated

"Primordial Power….. what exactly does that mean?" Micah questioned.

"The Primordials. Gaea, Tartarus, Eros, Erebus and Nyx. They together created the physical realm, and parented the Titans, which, in turn parented the gods." Annabeth explained

"We already kicked Gaea's behind, so she's of the picture." Leo stated confidently.

"So that leaves 4 others. 4 Gaeas. Man, we're screwed." Frank sighed.

"The question is which one is it? Which one is being prophesied?" Jason questioned.

"Who's to say it's just one?" Micah questioned. The others had a shared look of petrified realization. He was right. They barely handled one Primordial, what about 2?Or 3 or all of them for that matter.

"We can't afford to think that way, guys. Let's just focus on the task at hand. One step at a time." Reyna commented. They all nodded, then went back to sitting in silence, Micah twirling his ring, thinking.

"How hard was it? Beating Gaea I mean." he questioned. They all looked at one another, bad memories in their eyes.

"Harder than you can ever imagine." Percy said honestly.

"But hey," he added half-cheerfully "We did it. And this time, we've got you on our side." Micah smiled.

"I'm no hero, Percy. I'm just here because you guys are my friends, and you said you need my help." he replied, still twisting the ring on his finger. Micah looked out the window, watching as the scenery of the interstate passing by.

"Ugggh!! How far is it?" Leo whined. Without warning, Micah opened the door and stepped out. A purple streak flew out of sight, and in a split second came back, Micah stepping back into the moving van.

"About 43 hours away. If were driving this thing the whole way." Micah smirked, doing a crossword puzzle that he seemingly got from nowhere. He pulled a bag of chips, a 2 liter of coke, and a bag of red solo cups out of his sweatshirt.

"Where did you…" Reyna started.

"I made a couple of stops on the way," he smiled arrogantly. "That's why it took so long. Coke?" he offered. The boys all took a cup, and got some. After a moment, the girls took a cup as well.

"So how fast can you go?" Reyna asked after a few moments. Micah just gave a devilish smile to Annabeth. She glared at him, hate evident in her eyes. Reyna noticed and looked between the both of them.

"What? What am I missing here?" She asked curiously.

"Well, Annabeth…" Micah said smugly.

"We…. We're not exactly sure." she finally answered. That didn't answer Reyna's question, and confusion was evident in her eyes. So Annabeth begrudgingly delved into the story of Micah's attempted training cession, and about the treadmill incident, Micah keeping a smugly satisfied grin on his face.

"So, you can heal too? But…. Your shoulder.." She questioned.

"I can only completely heal life-or-death wounds on spot, and It hurts like Hades when I do have to heal. It also only works 1 at a time… I think."

"You think?" Reyna said incredulously. He shrugged

"Never had to try twice in a row." he chuckled.

"Dude, how many times have you, like… super-healed?" Frank cut in. Micah put a hand on his chest instinctively.

"Too many." he said flatly.

"So, how long have you been at Camp Half-Blood?" Frank asked

"Just came to Half-Blood like 2 days ago."

"What about before that? Where did you live?" Micah just stared out the window.

"Everywhere else." he said sadly.

"I've heard that demigods don't make it outside of a camp past 12." Leo commented. Micah nodded slowly.

"I can understand why they would say that." Micah affirmed.

"Most don't try to. Their protectors usually find them and get them to a camp before it's too late." Percy added.

"I guess I just wasn't one of the lucky ones." Micah said grimly. He put away the crossword, and stared off into space, deep in reminiscence.

"What was it like? I mean, being a demigod outside of camp without a protector for so long?" Piper questioned. Micah didn't say anything for a few moments.

"Suicide." he finally answered. For the next half an hour, they all sat in silence, save Annabeth typing away on her laptop.

"Um…. Guys…" Leo started. He was wiggling all around, squeezing his legs shut.

"Leo needs to drain the ol' bladder." Annabeth sighed, and looked around.

"Argus, could we please stop at that McDonald's?" She asked. He nodded, and pulled off of the highway and into the restaurant. Leo took off inside, while the others figured out what they wanted to order. Micah seemed to glare at the building suspiciously. Annabeth noticed and stood next to him.

"Something wrong?" she asked. His gaze never left the building.

"Something seems.. off about this place." he said quietly. Annabeth smiled.

"Dude, It's McDonald's. Chill." He looked her dead in the eyes.

"10 years on the run, monsters constantly following you, you get a good feel for things. This feels off. Keep your guard up." he commanded, walking into the building. Annabeth just scoffed. Percy threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close.

"Give him time. We can't even imagine what he has seen to make him so paranoid. He'll come around." Percy reassured. The rest of the 9 walked in, and got in line to place their orders. Micah looked around. He could feel something just wasn't right. They had no idea what inexplicable evil was lurking just around the corner.


	16. Chapter 16: Big Mac Attack

Micah starred at a poster of the McDonald's mascot: Ronald McDonald.

'I HATE clowns…' he griped to himself. Ever since he could remember, he had hated clowns. They were creepy dudes who wore makeup and pulled their pants down for public 'entertainment'. What's not to love, right?

"Hey, Micah. You ok?" Jason asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I'm fine just… staying alert. Something about this place gives me a bad feeling. Hey, I'm gonna go use the restroom. Could you get me the family box?" Micah replied, walking towards the bathroom.

"The whole BOX?!" Jason asked surprisedly. Micah nodded.

"And a Dr. Pepper. Thanks." He opened the door and stepped in. It was empty. He walked to the sink, and splashed his face with cold water. He looked in the mirror. There was much graffiti all over it; things like 'I kissed Jared', and '#cholesterol'. But one stood out.

'Προσοχή στον χαμογελαστό δαίμονα' Micah read. He looked in the mirror behind him, and thought he caught a glimpse of a figure standing behind him. He whipped around to find no one there. He hurried out of the bathroom, and into the restaurant. The rest of the group was waiting at the door.

"Guys, where's Leo?" Micah questioned. They looked around.

"I don't know, I thought he was in the bathroom." Percy commented. The boys looked at eachother, and headed to the bathroom once again, the girls waiting by the door. Micah walked to the far stall. Empty. Frank, Jason, and Percy all looked around for any signs of him. Micah looked at the stall door, and saw more scrawl.

'Τραβήξατε τη λαβή'. Micah pulled the handle of the toilet out, and it flipped up, revealing a hidden shaft that led under the store.

"Ummm…. Guys…." Micah said. They piled in to see the hole in the floor. Percy went and told Annabeth, who checked and found a similar situation in the girls restroom.

"Ladies, you take yours, and hopefully the 2 meet up somewhere. Leo's missing, and I have a sinking feeling we just found where to." Percy commanded, uncapping Riptide. The others nodded in agreement. The boys slowly descended into the pit, the toilet slamming back down overtop of the hole, leaving them all in complete darkness. Micah pulled off Δήμιος, its purple glow mixing with Jason's golden spears and Riptides feint bronze, lighting the tunnel. They hadn't walked for long before they ran into the girls, who were using the red light emanating from Reyna's necklace to guide their way. Together, the 8 of them continued down the tunnel. It was made of rock and dirt, and looked eerily similar to a mineshaft.

"Well, this isn't creepy at all" Micah commented.

"Cant even go to McDs like normal people." Jason agreed. They walked until they found themselves in a large opening, staring at what looked like a factory setup of some kind. There were conveyor belts all over, and lifeless looking humanoid creatures manning each, packaging what looked to be weapons and armor.

"What IS this place?" Percy questioned. They all looked at one another, but no one had any ideas. One of the creatures looked up, so the 8 ducked behind an unmanned machine Percy looked over to Micah.

"Micah, recon. I want Leo found ASAP." Percy whispered. Micah nodded, then vanished. He came back in an instant.

"He's up there." Micah pointed to what looked like a tiny watchtower.

"Heavily guarded. I could barely sneak past. These guards aren't human. Definitely monsters."

"Ok, here's the plan. We are going to…." Annabeth started. Suddenly, one of the creatures reached around the machine and grabbed her. She instinctively stabbed it in its hand with her dagger, instantly cursing in greek. That attracted the attention of the rest of the monsters that were on the floor. They stepped out from their hiding place, and readied themselves to attack. They monsters advanced, moving much like your typical stereotype movie zombies. The 8 easily cut down the advancing onslaught, ducking, slashing, and speeding their way around the horde. But more kept coming.

"Um… Pers, This isn't working. I'll go grab Leo, then lets high tail it out of this rat hole!" Micah suggested.

"Agreed. Go get him and meet us at the hallway!" Percy yelled across the room, as he cababed another creature.

"GUYS FALL BACK TO THE ENTRANCE!" He yelled, and the other 7 slowly fought their way backwards. Micah appeared in front of the tiny room Leo was trapped in. The only problem was they it was locked by a 4 digit electronic lock. Micah groaned out in frustration.

"We don't have TIME for this!" he yelled. He started pressing every possible combination with lightning speed, until after a moment, a buzzer sounded, and Micah threw the door open. Leo was bound and chained to the far wall. Micah broke the chains, and threw his arm around Leo.

"You like roller coasters?" Micah asked out-of-the-blue.

"Oh nooo. They make me pukey." Leo groaned. Micah sighed, then put his hand on the back of Leo's neck.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked nervously. Micah shrugged.

"Saw it in a Marvel movie. Supposed to keep your neck from breaking." He replied.

"Hey…. That was from Days of Future…." Leo began. He never finished, however, because Micah took off towards the exit. In a nanosecond, they were with the rest of the group. Micah let Leo go, who then staggered around and braced himself on the cave wall.

"You…. Percay… baaaad news, bruh…" he said queasily.

"Leo! Alright I'm glad you're ok!" Jason smiled, driving his spear through the heart of one of the little beasts.

"Guys we've gotta get out of here NOW! Before HE gets back!" Leo screamed.

"He? He who?" Annabeth questioned. Suddenly the fighting stopped. A slow, dramatic clapping could be heard from the back of the horde, along with the familiar squeaking of oversized shoes on the floor.

"Well, well well….. What could we have here?" Its voice sounded like an unholy mixture between helium and a cheese grater. The group just stared, slack jawed.

"Is that…" Jason started

"Oh yeah." Leo said unenthusiastically.

"What the…." Hazel commented

"You've GOT to be kidding me." Reyna said flatly. For standing right in front of them was the monster that had lured them into this little trap. That monster…. was Ronald McDonald.


	17. Chapter 17: Killer Clown Throwdown

"Welcome, my little McNuggets!" Ronald squeaked.

"Ronald McDonald's a MONSTER?" Percy asked incredulously.

"I honestly don't know whether to be scared or laugh." he finished

"Percy Jackson. I've heard you and your friends have caused a whole lot of trouble for my master. And yes, I just so happen to be a monster. I've been around since the Greeks, selling to the peasants as a simple merchant. I've grown quite large these days, yah know," He screeched, his voice like nails breaking on a chalkboard.

"So, what are you really?" Micah questioned. Ronald laughed. It sounded like a broken version of Mickey Mouse's laugh.

"You mean my Greek name? I had many names, but your parents took to calling me Lipos." Ronald replied.

"So, what do you want with us?" Leo asked.

"My master had put quite the price on any of your heads, kiddies. He'll be so pleased when I bring all of you to him." He squealed. They all looked at one another, then back at Ronald.

"Um, look, dude; no offense but…. I'm not gonna fight a clown" Frank stated. Ronald nodded his head slowly.

"Oh.. I see. Am I not threatening enough for you?" he asked angrily.

"Bro, we took on Mother freaking Earth. You're a clown. A literal clown." Leo explained. Ronald's head slumped down.

"Oh ok. I get it." he said sadly. Then he started sobbing.

"Is…. Is he legit crying?!?" Reyna asked. They all shrugged. Suddenly, they heard a sickening rip. They looked to see Ronald growing larger and larger,chuckling as he did, until he stood 10 feet tall. His clown shoes grew sickening claws, as did his hands. His teeth became jagged and mangled, and 2 new sets of eyes popped out onto his forehead. He went from Ronald McDonald to Steroids McGee.

"Better?" He asked, his voice now sounding much more akin to a professional wrestlers.

"Yeah"

"Yeah, better" The 9 replied. Lipos took off his red afro, reached in, and pulled out a giant machete, placing his 'fro back on his head.

"As my dear sweet cousin would say: Let's put a smile on that face!" Lipos sneered, then he and his army charged thd 9. They stayed together and fought as a unit, slicing and slashing and ducking. Frank would knee one in the stomach, and Jason would drive his spear through its exposed back, while Frank would shoot down any that would try to get Jason from behind. Percy would stab one, then whip around to block a sword that would almost hit Annabeth, who would smile at him, then throw her dagger to burry into the forehead of another trying to kabob Percy. Hazel would slice one in half with her spatha, and Piper would drive her dagger deep into the chest of one right behind her, using it as a shield while Leo torched it. Reyna would take out 2 or 3 at once, and Micah was all over the place, all this seeming to be happening in near-frozen slow motion. He would take care of the remnants, and generally try to keep the rest of the 9 out of harm's way. All this happened in a matter of seconds, but the real threat had just arrived. The 9 tried to fight off the army and Lipos, his giant machete blade of death swinging through, taking out many of his own men. They tried to stand their ground, but they couldn't take on the whole army AND fight the killer clown.

"OK THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Micah screamed, speeding even faster, a purple ring surrounding the army. Finally, he came to a halt next to the 9, faceing Lipos. His entire army fell to dust before his feet. Lipos looked around, smiling.

"Now I see why my master wants you dead especially bad, Light." he growled.

"Look, clown. You wanna fight us, come get some. I just took care of the stray pieces of garbage. Now it's time to take out the trash." Micah answered. Lipos charged, and the whole group ducked to avoid his machete. Frank shot an arrow directly into its knee, causing him to stumble, but not stop. They all charged the front, Hazel and Frank together blocking a machete blow. Jason electrified his spear, delivering quite a few jolting slashed to him. Percy ran and slid underneath him, catching his other knee, bringing him down on his knees. Micah delivered a flying kick to Lipos' face, sending him vaulting backwards. The 9 stood together, 4 yards away from a beaten looking Lipos.

"I can see now why we have had to deem this little team of yours a threat." Lipos smiled, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. He yanked the arrow out of his knee, and stood up. He attacked yet again, this time much more methodically. Reyna was about to slide underneath him, but he swung his machete between his legs, blocking her off. Jason was about to call down a bolt, but Lipos picked up a nearby boulder and threw it at him, Micah narrowly getting him out of the way in time. Hazel and Annabeth both advanced, moving as a unit, slashing and stabbing . But Lipos was too quick, moving his machete much faster than one would think possible, blocking every blow. He swept their feet with the dull side, sending them sprawling onto their backs. Micah tried to run in, but that's what Lipos was counting on. He suddenly swung his arm out, clotheslining Micah, sending him flying deeper into the shop. Percy was about to attack, when Ronald spoke.

"Ah ah ah, Mr Jackson. I wouldn't do that if I were you," Lipos spoke venomously, holding his blades sharp edge right on the base of Annabeth's neck.

"Your friends here would much rather you surrender." he sneered. Percy looked around for any option, any way to get them out of there.The rest of the 9 stood apprehensively, not sure exactly what to do. Then he saw Jason, whose eyes were darting back and forth between Percy and a group of stalagmites above them. Jason then did the same with a giant boulder behind Lipos, where Micah had somehow managed to sneak to.

'I'll get them' Micah mouthed, then held up 5 fingers, counting down for them to see.

4...3…

Jason held his spear behind his back, beginning to store up energy.

"OK! Ok we… we surrender just don't hurt them." Percy yelled, Lipos' smile growing even larger. He pulled his blade 3 inches away from Annabeth's neck, a look of disbelief written all over her face.

"Smart call, Jackson." Lipos chuckled. Percy chanced and glanced at Micah

2...1…

Jason threw out his arm, shooting the bolt at the stalagmites. Micah rushed out, grabbing both girls out of the way as nature's javelins came crashing down on top of Ronald.

"Son of a Big Mac!" Lipos screamed before being crushed underneath the points. The group didn't waste a moment.

"Let's get out of here." Percy commented, and they all sprinted to the exit, only to find it slowly closing.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Percy bellowed. Reyna was the first there, pinning the closing metal door open with her gladius.

"This wont hold long guys, lets go!" she screamed. Leo slid under first, then Piper, Hazel, and Frank. Annabeth was about to, when a loud crash was heard behind them. Lipos, bleeding and broken, was slowly advancing.

"Go go go!" Percy commanded, Annabeth sliding under as well, the gladius creaking and groaning as it fought against the weight of the door. Percy and Jason turned to fight.

"You 2 go! I'll hold him off!" Micah suggested.

"No! We all get out together!" Jason screamed. Lipos was mere feet away.

"Stop wasting time arguing and get going! I'm fast enough I can hold him off and get through! Now go before that sword gives way!" Micah said with finality, facing Lipos.

"Well, what have we here? A hero?" Lipos slurred, barely able to stay on his own 2 feet. Micah smirked.

"Not a hero. Never a hero. You just messed with the wrong family, friend. My family." Micah pulled off his sword, kicked directly behind Lipos' knee, bringing him down, then stabbed him straight through the chest.

"Mikey, lets go!!" Percy screamed, the rest of the group already on the other side of the door. The gladius suddenly snapped, and all the 9 saw was a blur of purple race against time. They heard the door slam, and were all thrown into darkness.

"Mikey? Can you hear me? Did you make it?" Percy spoke loudly.

"... Geez, that was close." Micah replied, causing everyone to sigh in relief.

"Come on guys, let's get the Hades out of here." Hazel suggested, earning unanimous agreement. They traveled back from whence they came, the boys splitting off from the girls and resurfacing in the stall. Needless to say, they got quite a funny look from an employee who was washing his hands, when all of the boys seemed to appear in and come out of one stall.

"Plumbing." Leo said simply. Maybe it was the toolbelt, or maybe the employee decided he really didn't care, but for some reason he didn't question it. The 9 walked up to the counter, covered in monster dust and grime.

"Order 435?" Jason asked. The girl behind the counter simply nodded, they took the bags, got their drinks, and left as if nothing ever happened. They found Argus, sitting in the same exact spot, waiting for them. They climbed into the van in the same order they left, and just like that drove away from 'Lipos Ton O' Fun'.

"Well, I have no weapon." Reyna commented.

"We'll find you one, don't worry." Piper reassured. They all ate in relative silence.

"So Annabeth.." Micah started deviously. She refused to turn.

"Just a McDonald's, huh?" She whipped around and glared at him.

"You want me to apologize? Fine, Speedy! You were right and I was wrong? Happy?" she gripped. Micah leaned back and opened his 2nd Big Mac.

"Oh immensely." He replied, earning snickers from the boys and rolled eyes from the girls. Just like that, they were poking fun at one another. Just like that, they were back on the road, to face more disaster and more monsters.


	18. Chapter 18: Hot Tubs and Flashbacks

They had been on the road for another 4 hours, when Annabeth suggested they pull over to a hotel. Argus pulled over to a Hampton Hotel. Many hotels in the USA were run by monster, but the Hampton franchise was owned and protected by the gods. Not only was it the nicest franchise of hotels, but one where the tired demigods could rest easy. The 9 piled in, and waited in the lobby. The desk clerk squinted at the grime-covered group, then leaned close.

"Are you them? The ones prophesied?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Satyr?" Piper asked. The clerk smiled.

"Nymph. Lord Zeus has already set you up in the penthouse suite. 10 rooms, a breakfast commons, and even a hot tub. " she asked kindly. They all looked at one another excitedly. Leo drew in a breath to blurt something out, when he was interrupted by the clerk.

"And yes, Mr. Valdez, there is room service." his smile widened.

"You can leave your things here, they will be delivered to your rooms." she handed Percy a card key.

"Enjoy your stay. The floor P.S. is yours." she said pleasantly. They all stepped into the quite large elevator. Percy scanned the card, which gave a slight beep. The P.S. button lit up, and Percy pressed it. They traveled up to the penthouse suite. They stepped out to a wide open area. Hardwood floor, beige walls, and Greek-style support columns. The left side was lined with rooms, 1-10. To the right, a full-buffet area, complete with any kind of food you could imagine. A projector faced an all white wall, lighting it up with the days news. Perhaps the best part, however, was the giant 20- person inground hot tub in the middle of the room. They all stood, unable to move, only stare at its magnificence.

"Whoa." Leo gaped. They walked in, each heading into a room. The rooms were all identical, the carpet a deep red velvet, the bathrooms having beautiful grey tile flooring and marble countertops. The shower had a frosted glass door, and was comfortably large. The beds were Tempurpedics, and the far 'wall' was 1 giant window. The first thing Micah did was turn on the shower and wash off the dirt and monster dust. When he stepped out, he vibrated his whole body, turning the water into steam, and drying himself off. He wrapped himself in his towel, and walked back into his room. On his bed sat his bag of clothes. He got dressed and sat down in a fluffy Lazy Boy in the corner and closed his eyes. This was paradise. After a few minutes, there was a rapping at the door.

"Come in." Micah called. Leo poked his head in and smiled.

"Hey, we're all getting in the hot tub, you coming?" he offered. Micah smiled.

"I don't think I have any…"

"Trunks? Bottom drawer of your dresser, dude. See you in 5!" he yelled as he closed the door. Micah chuckled and checked in the drawer, and sure enough, here was a pair of Hawaii print swimming trunks with a little note attached. Micah pulled it off, and read;

'Best of Wishes. Enjoy yourselves while you can,

Ψ'

Micah threw on the trunks and stepped out of his room to find the other 8 all relaxing in the hot tub, laughing and enjoying themselves.

"Hey, Mikey! Come on in and soak with us! It feels SO good on your battle bruises and sores!" Percy hummed happily. The others all voiced their agreement. Micah smirked and peeled off his shirt. A slight silence filled the air as they all seemed to really look at his chest and arms for the first time. He had all kinds of scars all over: some were small and thin like a dagger, some were short and stout like a gladius wound. One spanned across his left shoulder and peck all the way down just below his ribs. Micah looked down at his chest and smiled sadly.

"Yeah, quite the sight, huh?" Micah shrugged as he stepped into the tub, its hot bubbly water soothing his aching muscles and bones.

"I thought you said you've never been in any wars." Hazel commented.

"I haven't."

"Then what happened to you, Micah?" Reyna questioned quietly. Micah sat in silence for a moment.

"My body heals extremely quickly. Non-fatal wounds heal," Micah gestured to the spot on his shoulder where the fingernail skewered. It looked perfect. No scar, nothing.

"Without a trace." he finished.

"But, lethal wounds… ones that should kill, they always leave something behind." he continued.

"So every scar…" Annabeth questioned.

"Is 1 time I shouldn't have made it, yeah." Micah said grimly. They all sat in silence for a few moments, before Percy spoke up.

"Kinda like emotional scars, huh? Each one is one time we shouldn't have made it." Micah nodded.

"Only these," Micah said, touching the largest one. "These are real." More silence.

"So, I've heard you guys have done some crazy stuff. Care to elaborate?" Micah asked, changing the subject. They all smiled, and proceeded to tell him all about their adventures, their battles and quests, and how they met one another. Micah sat quietly, absorbing the stories, occasionally commenting.

"Hey, yeah, I remember hearing about some major problems in New York that year. I was in Okinawa, searching for a scroll containing the secret weakness of the Dragdra. I heard about the weird weather patterns on the radio" They continued regaling him with tales of victory, until they all decided to get some sleep. Micah dried off and headed to his room, feeling relaxed and refreshed. The Tempurpedic was so comfortable, he was out before his head hit the pillow. That's when the nightmares started.

FLASHBACK NIGHTMARE*

Micah woke up in the cave of a giant. More specifically, a Gastregonian giant, the Eastern cousin of the Laistrygonian giant. The beast had knocked Micah out and tied him up. For the past few days, the monster had tortured him to try and get information about some…. Light. He had been cut, branded, whipped and just about everything in between. He had been drugged to the point where he couldn't run away, and was now hanging by his wrists, facing the unholy creature.

"If you're gonna eat me, just do it and spare me having to look at you." An 11-year-old Micah spat.

"Oh, but you'd like that, wouldn't you?" the monster growled, then punched him hard in the stomach. Micah coughed, spitting out blood mixed with saliva. The creature picked up a nearby sword that had been left in the flames of a kiln.

"Now, child. One last chance. Tell me where the Light is, and you go free." Its deep voice rumbled as it examined the red-hot blade.

"I already told you, I don't know!" Micah half pleaded half growled.

"Well then, I guess you serve no other purpose." The thing said cruelly. It drew back its arm, and drove the smelting blade through the left side of his chest.

NIGHTMARE END*

Reyna could heard the screams from her room, which shared a wall with Micahs. She cautiously opened Micahs door, to find him thrashing all around. She rushed over by his side, shaking him furiously. He jolted up, his and clutching his left chest, eyes darting left and right. His gaze fell on Reyna, and he hung his head.

"I…. I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" he was interrupted by a huge hug. Reyna rested her head on his shoulder and whispered.

"What was it? You can tell me." she soothed.

"I don't think you want to know." Micah said, trying to regain his composure. She stepped back, giving him a look that said 'Oh yeah I do want to know.' He sighed then sat up, patting the bed next to him. She sat down and, with his eyes glued to the floor, he began.

"It was 2004, Detroit, Michigan. I was running from some giant man-monster who had been following me for days. I was getting away fairly easily, so I wasn't extremely worried. Never thought that lumbering musclehead would catch me. I gathered up my things from a hotel room I had been staying in, and was about to head to Los Vegas to loose him. Somehow, he followed me to the hotel, and waited for me outside. I felt some little poke in my left arm, look over to see it's a dart. I don't remember much after that, until we reached his cave. He… he wanted information he thought I had, and was willing to do anything to get it. For 3 days he….'persuaded' me. I had no idea what he was talking about, I couldn't comply. On the last day he… he told me that if I really didn't know, that I was of no use to him and he… well," Micah lifted up his shirt and pointed to a giant 3 inch wide, deep pink scar under his left peck.

"Ended me. The pain must have been too much, because I don't remember anything until I wake up on some fishing boat. The captain said he found me floating down the river, and brought me up." Micah finished, his eyes still glued to the floor.

"You said 'persuaded'. It… that thing tortured you, didn't it?" Reyna confirmed. Micah said and did nothing, merely stared down. Finally, he nodded.

"And you said it was 2004, so you… you were.."

"11 years old. First time a monster had ever actually caught me." Reyna took a minute to take it all in. She pictured an 11 year old Micah, drugged, tortured, and beaten. She could feel her own heart breaking, and her blood rising.

"What happens while your healing? Do… do you.." she started

"Die?" Micah questioned. She nodded. He played with his ring. "Yeah. Even been to the Underworld once. But that's a different story." Micah looked up into Reyna's deep brown eyes.

"I'm… I'm sorry I woke you, Reyna." She grabbed him into a hug again. A single tear slid down her cheek.

"Don't you dare be. It's not your fault, Mikey. Gods, if I would have been tortured like you were, for no reason, I probably wouldn't have made it out alive. I'm so sorry…. No one deserves that. No one." he sat in silence, then wrapped his arms around her and hugged back, a stone flat expression on his face.

"We all have our crosses to bear, Rey. I'm sure you have yours as I have mine. I'll be OK. I just… relive it from time to time." She held him out at arms length, and smiled.

'Gods, he'd make a great Roman.' she thought.

"Well, we'd better get back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning. If you need anything, I'm right next door." Reyna said as she walked out of his room and closed his door. Micah laid back and stared at the time, which was projected on the ceiling. 2:44 am. One thing was for sure though. He wasn't going back to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19: Reliving the Past

Reyna woke up and looked up at her clock. 7:30 am. She threw off her blankets and sat up.

'Man, I feel good.' she thought happily as she quietly snuck out of her room. She walked by Micah's room, and saw it was slightly cracked. She glanced in and saw Micah sitting on the edge of his bed, looking out the window. She knocked, then opened the door.

"Hey, Mikey. How did you sl…" she stopped cold as she looked around and saw the dozens of cans lying all over the room. She picked one up. Redline Energy. Micah was tapping his finger on his leg wildly, staring out the window. She briskly walked over and stood in front of him.

"What in Hades is all this?!" she whispered angrily. When Micah didn't answer, and snapped her fingers in front of his face. He jumped surprisedly.

"Oh. Hey Rey. When did you get here?" he said jitteryly. She gawked at him in disbelief.

"Explain." she demanded. He didn't answer.

"Micah, how long have you been up?" she asked. He coughed nervously.

"Like…. 12 hours." he stated simply. He popped open another Redline. Reyna grabbed it from him.

"Hey!" he griped

"Do you have any idea what this crap does to you? You need to get some sleep!" she demanded.

"Im fine, Reyna. I feel great" Micah argued.

"You can't just not sleep, Micah!" she whisper-yelled. He didn't answer, but stood up and walked out the glass door onto the patio. She stomped after him.

"Oh no you don't. You're gonna listen. People need sleep, Mike. You can't just ride off of deadly amounts of caffeine to…." Micah whipped around and grabbed her shoulders, an extremely scared look in his eyes.

"I CAN'T DO IT REYNA!! I CAN'T RELIVE THE PAIN!!!" He yelled. His grip on her shoulder loosend.

"The… the nightmares… the pain… so much pain… I… I can't do it…" he trembled. She didn't say anything as his hands slid off of her shoulders and he turned away from her. She instinctively touched his arm and turned him around. He looked like a little kid, scared and alone. He forced a small smile.

"Why does it always seem to be you and me talking about my problems?" Micah asked. Reyna smiled back and shrugged.

"The Fates must want it this way." she guessed. Micah nodded then looked out over the highway.

"What can't you relive?" she prodded kindly.

"I… I can still feel it, Rey. The pain. Every burn, slice, stab, whip…. Like it just happened yesterday…" Micah managed, squeezing his fist. Reyna touched his balled-up hand and opened it up. Blood trickled down his palm. He had squeezed so hard, he had broken his skin.

"I'm sorry, Micah. But… you can't just NOT sleep." She commanded. He didn't answer. She dragged him over to his bed.

" Lie down." she commanded.

"Reyna, honestly, I'm…" he started. She glared at him with a murderous look. He laid down.

"We don't leave until 9:30. You can at least sleep until 9:00, then sleep some in the car."

"But, the… I can't…" Micah muttered. Reyna pulled the lazy boy over next to his bed and sat down.

"I'll be here." she promised. She sat there for a while, his breathing slowing down and becoming even. His hand went limp, and she gently slipped her hand out. She sat there watching him sleep, an odd feeling of butterflies forming in her stomach.

BREAK*

Annabeth woke up and looked at the time. 8:30 am. She got up, got dressed, and headed out across the large room to the breakfast table. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Percy grumbling at the waffle maker.

"Stupid… how does it even… I don't… ARGH!!!" Percy whisper-yelled. Annabeth chuckled, then walked over and hugged him from behind, grabbing his hands. She masterful poured the batter, Percy letting her use his hands, and flipped the waffles to start them cooking. Percy suddenly whipped around, causing Annabeth to trip. But just before she could hit the ground, Percu caught her with one arm. He leaned in and kissed her passionately.

"Good morning, beautiful." he whispered, pulling her back up.

"You are such a Seaweed Brain…" she muttered. He grabbed a flower from off of the table, and put it in his mouth, then whipped around and wagged his eyebrows at her.

"...And??" he grumbled around the flower stem. Annabeth was trying not to give his childish actions the satisfaction of response, but…. But he was so dang ADORABLE! She reluctantly took the flower and put it back into the vase, then kissed him again. They broke the kiss and rested their foreheads together.

"And that's exactly why I love you, Percy Jackson." she whispered. They stood there for a while, enjoying the closeness of each other. Finally, Percy sniffed.

"You smell that?" He asked curiously. Annabeth jolted up.

"Shoot! The waffles!!" she rushed over and flipped the machine. The waffles were perfectly cooked, right down to the perfect golden brow….

"Percy."

"Yes, darling." he answered innocently.

"Why… why are these waffles blue?" Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny bottle of blue food coloring

"I mixed it with my batter." he explained excitedly. She sighed, and brought him his plate and the syrup bottle. He looked up thankfully.

"You are an angel, Wise Girl." he praised. Annabeth simply smirked and flipped her hair.

"You finally noticed. Took you long enough." She joked. While she was making her food, her back turned to Percy, he smiled deviously. He quietly unscrewed the cap to the syrup and put 3 drops of food coloring in. He happily shook and poured the now-blue syrup all over his blue waffles. Jason, Piper, and Hazel walked in, and Frank and Leo followed close behind.

"I need feed!" Leo cried.

"Food. You need food." Frank corrected

"Yep. Feed. Some good old feed." Leo restated. They all made breakfast and were laughing and joking when Reyna came out for Micah's room. They all looked at one another questioningly.

"I swear I will kill you all." Reyna threatened violently. Nobody moved, until Percy held up a blue waffle.

"I'm good, Jackson. But thanks." she walked over and got a plate of fresh fruit, and some orange juice. She sat down and started eating.

"Is he ok?" Jason asked seriously. Reyna sighed.

"I.. I don't know, Jason." she answered. Just then, Micah's door opened, and he walked out, fully dressed and ready to go. He sat down next to Reyna and Percy and opened a box. He pulled out a dozen of Taco Bell's breakfast burritos, and started devouring them.

"So, nice place, huh?" he said nonchalantly, and everyone went back to eating and talking. Reyna tapped his arm.

"You ok?" she asked. He smiled kindly at her.

"I am now. Thanks ReyRey." he whispered back. He had finally slept without a nightmare. Blissful sleep. When they finished eating, they packed up and headed out. The clerk smiled when Percy tried to give back the card.

"Keep it, Mr. Jackson. A gift from Lord Zeus. Redeemable as many nights as you desire, and any Hampton franchise hotel." Percy thanked her, and after throwing their stuff in the back, they were on the road yet again. They stopped at 2 other hotels on the way, and after 3 days of driving, they finally neared the camp. They were all walking through the forest, joking around the whole way. But, all of their joy and laughter was abruptly stopped when they saw smoke arising from the forest.

"Micah, could you…"

"On it." he replied. He disappeared into the forest, then reappeared just as quickly, his face pale and worried.

"What? What is it?" Reyna asked.

"I don't believe it. I KILLED that thing!" Micah yelled. They were all confused, until a giant 5 headed dragon could be seen flying over the camp. They all rushed over to find the Roman demigods in formation, a young commander nervously barking out orders. When the beast saw Micah, It landed and roared furiously.

"That," Micah explained

"That is the Dragdra."


	20. Chapter 20: Monsters and Painters

"So… Dragdra.." Leo questioned as he pulled a mallet out of his toolbelt, igniting it in a blaze. The beast before them looked exactly how it sounded: Body and wings of a dragon, but 3 heads like a Hydra.

"Half-Dragon, Half- Hydra. Spits acid, so watch out. And yes, the heads grow back." Micah informed, drawing Δήμιος. Everyone else drew their weapons. Reyna reached for her gladius, only to recall it wasnt there.

"Um, guys…." was all she managed, before a cloud of acid gas spewed out of the Dragdra's mouth. She braced herself, half expecting to be vaporized, but the acidic burn never came. Micah had moved her out of the way just in time. The 2 of them were a few yards away, the others doing their best to fight the beast off.

"Problems, Rey?" Micah questioned.

"Swords gone." she explained, then smirked. "Broke saving your butt, remember?" she poked fun.

"I don't recall no," he joked back. The Dragdra roared, reminding them the gravity of the situation. The monster saw Micah, and charged. Micah stood his ground, Reyna right beside him. She saw his sword's purple hue, the looked at her own ruby necklace. It was glowing bright red. She felt her own hand moving towards it automatically, like she had done it a thousand times. Her hand closed around the ruby, and tugged. The Dragdra was mere inches away when a bright light flashed, and the beast reeled back, a new laceration appearing on its chest. Reyna and Micah both looked down at her hand in surprise. She was holding a beautiful Urumi whip-blade, a ruby fuller running through the middle. It had a handle reminiscent of a Roman falcata sword. They stood in silence for a second, until Micah let out a low whistle.

"Dang." He commented quietly, Reyna smirking. The Dragdra attacked again, Micah racing behind it and slashing at its back legs. Reyna lashed out and wrapped the urumi blade around its front ankle, yanking hard. The beast roared in agony, its ankle now a bloody mess. Frank shot an arrow through its wing, the rest of the group finding them.

"Nice toy, ReyRey. Where'd you get it?" Leo joked.

"Not now, Valdez. We've got work to do." she scolded. Leo smirked.

"Geez, ok MOM!" he emphasized. The Dragdra stood bleeding and panting, then something horrible happened. Its foot started to heal, and soon it stood angry and unscaved.

"Ok…. Mikey, how do we kill this thing?" Jason asked nervously.

"The heart. You have to rip out the heart." he explained quickly. The monster turned and blew a stream of gaseous acid at them, the group splitting and dodging out of the way just in time. Percy looked over at Annabeth, and squinted. She seemed to pick up some unspoken message, and nodded. Percy charged in, and Annabeth attacked while its attention was taken.

"Frank, boost!" she yelled. Frank ran over and knelt down, giving her his hands to step into. She ran up, and Frank vaulted her straight up, Annabeth driving her dagger deep into its chest cavity. The Dragdra reeled, throwing her a few yards. Percy threw out his hand, and a nearby stream burst forwards and caught Annabeth, brining her softly to the ground. He then turned back to the monster, watching as it backed up and hissed in pain, a giant hole cut so deep into its chest that you could see its heart. The Roman legions stood by at Reyna's demand, watching in awe as the 9 of them fought for the safety of Camp Jupiter.

"Well, what now; the heart is impervious." Annabeth asked. Micah just stared in confusion.

"That's…. New…" he commented blankly. He then looked over at Jason.

"Electro-spear the heart. If you can jab your spear into the heart, it doesn't matter if you pierce it…"

"The electricity should stop the heart. Gotcha" Jason finished, calling down a lightning bolt and charging. The beast wasn't going to just let him stab it, so it gathered what strength it could manage, and lashed out. Jason suddenly just… vanished. In the same moment, he and Micah reappeared right behind the beast. He quickly jumped it, reaching around and driving his spear deep into its chest cavity. The tip touched the heart, and it exploded like a blood-filled water balloon. Jason was thrown to the ground as the beast wriggled in pain, then poofed into a cloud of dust. The 9 stood panting and trying not to puke because of what they had just witnessed. Reyna looked down at the whip-like blade in her hands.

"How do I…" she started. Micah shrugged as he put his sword back onto his finger, it becoming a ring. Then, just as it had been instinct drawing her weapon, Reyna whipped it around her shoulders. It should have sliced her neck open, but instead, in a bright flash of light similar to Δήμιος, the weapon became the same ruby necklace she had been wearing. She looked at it with fascination.

"That is one wicked weapon, Rey!" Leo commented. Then, he slapped Micah on the back.

"I have GOT to get the name of your jewelry store!" he exclaimed. Micah shrugged, then looked at Reyna's necklace.

"Well, I guess that solves your weapon problem. Unless, of course, you prefer a sword."

"No!" Reyna interjected quickly. They all looked at her, curiosity and amusement all over their faces.

"I mean, no. This blade is very comfortable. Easy to use, and extremely lethal. I love it." she finished.

"Well, you gotta name in…." Micah stopped suddenly. His ring was glowing, and he heard a single word repeated in his head.

"Πληγή." he said, then grinned. "Laceration". Reyna looked down at her necklace and smiled. Suddenly, the Roman legions surged forwards, cheering and following them as the worked their way into the camp. Once they addressed a few minor wounds; Jason got a cut on his arm when he fell, and Percy got nicked by a claw, they all went to join the romans, feasting and laughing and telling the tales of their adventure so far. Piper sat next to Jason, Annabeth with Percy, and Micah sat at the corner of the table, eating like the black-hole he was. Reyna sat at the head of the table, and after things had settled down, she stood and tapped her glass, bringing everyone to attention.

" Fellow Roman legionnaires, I have some important news. I will be joining these 8 warriors on a quest." murmurs could already be heard.

"In my absence, I appoint Daniel Eastwood, Son of Mars, as temporary praetor." she explained. Cheers could be heard from the table. Daniel had been with Camp Jupiter a little over a year now. For a son of Mars, he was so level-headed that both she and Frank joked that if either of them died, he would no question become a praetor. Everyone loved Dan, and he was a perfect fit to keep watch over the Camp while their praetors were gone. They packed up quickly, and decided to stay the night, telling Argus of their decision so he could rest as well. The next morning, the 9 got together to decide what to do next. They were all packed up, their bags in the van; they were ready to go, but first they had to figure out; go where?

'The 7 warriors of then

Shall come together once again

And take up arms to join the fight

To war beside Olympus' Lyte

To find the answers that you seek

Climb the tallest mountain peak

Beat the swiftest being alive

If your world is to survive

The Lyte to find his destiny

Must find the eldest prophecy'

Micah reread the whole scroll.

"So… the highest mountain peak.. that's Mount Everest, right?" Leo thought. They all sat thinking, until Micah spoke up.

"No."

"No?" Jason questioned. Micah shook his head.

"It said find the ELDEST prophecy, right? Well, in Ancient Greek and Roman times, what was the highest mountain?" Annabeth snapped her fingers in realization.

"Mount Mytikas… but that's.." she began. Percy nodded, understanding what she meant.

"The original Mount Olympus… in Greece…"

"That's gonna take a while. Guess we're gonna need to get a boat. The Skylord don't do too well with Percy flying." Leo commented. Just then, a Roman Half-Blood came bursting through the door.

"Reyna, I'm sorry to interrupt. A message came for Percy Jackson, from Olympus, ma'am." The boy was 5 years old, Reyna knew for sure. He was a very thin child, with semi-tan skin, dirty blonde hair, and bright green eyes. Reyna smiled and took the scroll from him.

"Thank you very much." she said kindly. The boy motioned for her to come closer, and she knelt next to him.

"Who's that guy, sissy?" he whispered. Reyna had found the boy on a quest 1 year ago, and taken him in after rescuing him from a cyclops. When she found out he had run away from an orphanage, she brought him with her back to Camp Jupiter. She treated him like a little brother. He even called her sissy. She smiled down at little Raphael.

"That's Micah, Raphy. He's a friend of mine." she whispered back. Micah stood off to the side, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. When he looked over and saw Raphael looking at him, he simply gestured a small wave. Raphael stepped behind Reyna, hiding.

"He's very strong, Sissy… and kinda scary." he added at the end. Raphael hadn't been claimed yet, but he seemed to have a natural ability to know things about people. She turned to him and smiled.

"Why don't you go introduce yourself, buddy? He's really nice." Reyna prodded. The little boy trudged over cautiously. Reyna got Micah's attention.

'He's a little intimidated by you, Micah. Be extra nice.' she mouthed. He nodded, then crouched down to his level. He stuck out his hand and smiled.

"What's happenin' slick. What's your name?" he said softly. Raphael chuckled nervously, shaking his hand

"I'm Raphael. You talk funny, Micah." he added. Micah laughed.

"That's because I'm from Texas, son. We talk a little differently down there." Micah explained. Raphael's eyes were glued to the ground, and he rocked back and forth uncomfortably.

"Wanna see something cool?" Micah asked. Raphael looked up, the slightest bit of excitement in his eyes.

"Um, sure I guess." Micah held out his hand, and it started to vibrate. Raphael's eyes lit up.

"Wow! That's super cool!! Just like Quicksilver!!" Raphael exclaimed. Micah looked up at Reyna and winked. She just grinned and turned away to cover it up. Raphael slowly and hesitantly reached out towards the blur that was his hand.

"Here, give me your and, Raph." Micah said. He stopped vibrating his hand, and held it out. Raphael placed his hand in Micah's, and Micah slowly vibrated both their hands. Raphael smiled, his eyes huge.

"Whoa, that's really cool" he exclaimed. Micah let go, and Raphael studied his palm.

"Can you run fast too? Like Quicksilver?" Raphael asked. Micah just looked up at Reyna and smiled.

"Why don't you ask Reyna about that. She'll tell you all about it." Micah suggested. Raphael nodded, then turned and ran over to Reyna. All Micah heard was

'Sissy, can he run really fast?". Micah laughed and turned to the rest of the group. They were reading the scroll Raphael had brought in. In Zeus' authoritative, bold handwriting, it said simply.

'Take a plane. You have my blessing, Percy Jackson. You must go quickly.'

They called Reyna over, and showed her as well.

"If Lord Jupiter says to take Percy on a plane, we can only assume the worst. Something huge is coming. We have to hurry." she whispered so Raphael couldn't hear. But he did. He tugged on her shirt, a sad look in his eyes.

"Are you really going to go, Sissy?" he asked sadly. She nodded.

"I am Raphy. To help our friends." she confirmed. He nodded and looked down. Micah placed a hand on his shoulder, and Raphael looked up. Micah knelt next to him.

"Don't you worry, Raph. I'll be there." Micah said. Raphael turned to him, obviously trying to fight back tears.

"You'll protect her?" Raphael asked. Micah nodded.

"Take care of my sister, mister." he said seriously.

"I promise." Micah affirmed. He turned to Annabeth.

"Find the nearest airport. Next stop; Mount Mytikas"


	21. Chapter 21: Deja-Vu

After about 15 minutes, Annabeth found the nearest airport, in San Francisco. They were already packed up, but they took a few minutes to let the Romans say goodbye. As they were heading out, Raphael was waiting at the entrance, sitting up against one of the support pillars with his chin resting on his knees. He looked up, saw them, and stood up. When they reached him, he kept his eyes glued to the ground.

'I'm gonna miss you, Sissy.' he whispered barely audibly. She slowly knelt down, and tipped his chin up to meet his eyes. Tear lines could be seen on his cheeks. She wiped his cheeks and smiled sadly at him.

'I'll miss you too, Raphy.' she said softly. He suddenly engulfed her in a hug, squeezing her tight.

'I...I love you, Sissy. You stay safe.' he half-cried. She squeezed him right back, fighting back tears of her own.

'I love you buddy. I'll be back soon. I promise.' she soothed. Raphael stepped back and wiped his nose. He turned to Micah.

"You… you keep her safe, Micah. Please don't let my Sissy get hurt." Raphael pleaded. Micah looked at him seriously.

"She'll come back safe and sound, Raph. I promise." he swore. Raphael stepped up and hugged him as well. Micah picked him up and hugged him back.

'Raphy, I need you to be strong for your Sissy, and for everyone else here, ok? Can you do that for me, boss?' said quietly. He could feel Raphael nod his head, which was resting on his shoulder. Micah smiled a little, and held him for a few moments until he regained his composure, then he set him back down.

"And do me a favor, dude." Micah added. Raphael looked up at him curiously.

"Believe in me. I'll keep her safe." Micah promised. Raphael turned to Reyna and smirked a little.

"It'll be ok, Sissy. I'll take care of things while you're away." Reyna smiled and ruffled the 5 year old's hair.

"I know you will buddy." she said. Then she smirked and playfully grabbed at his nose.

"You better stay out of trouble too, mister." she joked. Raphael giggled. Reyna gently kissed his forehead.

"I gotta go, bud. I'll see you real soon, ok?" she promised. She and the rest of the 9 began walking out, when Raph called out

"Micah, bring me back somethin' cool!!" Micah chuckled and turned back.

"Definitely!!" Micah yelled. They walked to the van in silence. When they got in, Reyna and Micah sat next to each other in the far back, and Leo took the seat in front of them, turning around and smirking.

"Aww, you guys are a bunch of softies!" he exclaimed. Reyna looked him dead in the eye.

"How much do you value those pointy ears of yours, Valdez?" she growled. Leo threw up his hands and turned around. Micah simply stared out the window, watching Raphael waving and slowly disappearing along with the rest of the camp. They drove onwards, the airport being about 12 hours away. Everyone was laughing and carrying on.You would have never guessed that this group of young adults was going to save the world. They drove well into the night, and Micah just watched the world pass by as everyone else slept. He felt a gentle hand on his arm, and turned to see Reyna wide awake.

"Do I need to tell you, Micah? You need to sleep." she said faintly. He smiled and shrugged.

"I know Rey, I will." he said just as quietly. For a moment, there was silence, save the soft snoring of Leo and Annabeth. Annabeth was leaning up against Percy, his arm draped over her, and Frank and Hazel, and Jason and Piper shared similar poses.

"Raphy really seems to like you, Mike." Reyna whispered. "He usually doesn't take to well to newcomers. He's very shy." She explained, Micah nodding in understanding.

"Cute kid. Reminds me of myself when I was 9. Scared, but determined not to show it. He's had his share of pain and loneliness, that I can tell." Micah said quietly. Reyna simply nodded.

"Thanks for being so nice to him. You're better with children than I expected." she continued. Micah smiled and nudged her gently.

"And you're pretty motherly yourself, Reyna. Didn't expect it from you. It's sweet." he said. Reyna was turning beet red, but praise Olympus it was dark and no one could have seen. They sat in silence for quite a while, until Reyna spoke.

"So, Micah… do you have any…" she started, then chuckled lightly. Micah was passed out, his head resting on the window. She leaned up against her own window and sighed.

"Goodnight, Micah." she whispered before dozing off.

*BREAK*

Micah knew he was in for it when he heard the deep, evil voice rumble through his head.

"Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock." The Darkness droned psychotically. Micah could feel its presence, its sheer power. His head suddenly began buzzing like mad, making his brain feel like it was being set on fire, beat with a baseball bat, and melted to puddles all at once. It made him relive each and every horrible and pain-filled moment of his life, each nightmare he wished he would never remember came flooding back all at once.

"Why do you fight a battle you know you cannot win, Lyte? Why struggle against me? I cannot be stopped, cannot be contained. I am watching you and all of your friends wherever you go. You cannot stop me or escape me. Kneel before the master of your soul, Micah Lyte, and I will end you quickly." It hissed, each word making Micah feel like he was being driven deeper and deeper into psychosis. He clutched his head and screamed, dropping to his knees. The Darkness could be heard laughing at his suffering, enjoying his misery and pain. Finally, it stopped.

"Keep going Lyte. I think I like our little 'meetings'" It growled as it reached down a giant arm the size of the Empire State building and drug a single nail across his back. Pain and fire shot up his back as he felt a gash opening, feeling like it was being burned with acid and cut all at once.

"Until next time." it spat, Micah waking up with a start, still in pain. His head was resting in Reyna's lap, and she was stroking his hair.

"Micah, what happened? You started shaking and muttering and… what happened to you?" she whispered. It was still the dead of night, everyone else was still asleep. He started to sit up, when the pain shot back up his back. He bit his hand and groaned in pain. Reyna blushed a little as he removed his shirt, but was instantly sobered when she saw the massive cut on his back. It was seeping some black gunk, and looked like it had been acid-etched into his back. She reached behind the, and felt around until she found her special Half-Blood first-aid kit. She pulled out nectar and ambrosia and gave him some. Even in the dark, he looked pale and clammy, too weak to even hold up his own head. As he ate, some of his strength seemed return, as he could hold himself up. She silently wrapped his back in bandage, then put the kit back away. He was sitting upright, trying not to lean over onto the window and doze off. Though he had been sleeping for a few hours, he felt even more tired then. Reyna started slowly tipping him over putting his head on his backpack.

"No, I… I can't." he half-stated half-pleaded. She shushed him as he finally laid down, and she took his hand.

"I'll be here for you, Mikey. Sleep now." she promised. Against his will he slowly drifted off. He woke up once more to take a drink of water. He saw Reyna uncomfortably leaning against the window, still holding his hand. He smirked as he gently sat up and leaned her down next to him, she sighed in her sleep, and nestled her head under his chin. He fell back asleep, thinking about how her hair smelled like lilacs.


	22. Chapter 22: Airplanes and Men in Black

Micah woke up and yawned. He was about to stretch out, when he realized he couldn't. Reyna was using his bicep as a pillow. She was fast asleep, her hand still clinging to his. Micah chuckled and sat up a little. That's when he saw Percy and Annabeth and everyone else save Argus turned around staring at them slack jawed. Percy didn't move an inch except to snap a picture with his phone.Normally, demigods wouldn't have phones, but that Christmas Leo and the Hephaestus cabin had created Demigod-safe Iphones, and gifted one to all the demigods. Micah slowly sunk back down and tapped Reyna with the hand she was holding.

"Um, Rey, wake up.…" he whispered. She shot up, then blinked a few times to wake up. When she saw everyone staring, she instantly turned tomato red.

"I… we weren't… this isnt." she stuttered. Percy simply took another picture, still in shock.

Reyna grabbed at his phone.

"JACKSON I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!!" she fumed, and everyone including Micah burst out laughing. Percy was keeping his phone just out of reach, struggling against the all-powerful p'd off Reyna. Resistance was futile, as she finally grabbed his wrist and twisted, forcing him to let go. She pressed a few times, then deleted the pictures. She then looked out the window, not making eye contact with any of them. They eventually all went back to talking and laughing. Micah leaned over and tapped her shoulder. She didn't take her gaze off of the passing countryside.

"Rey, I'm… I'm sorry I put you in that position. It shouldn't be your job to keep watch over me all the time… I didn't mean to embarrass you." Micah whispered so no one else could hear. Reyna turned and faced him.

"You don't have to be sorry for a thing, Mike." Reyna assured. Micah nodded and turned out to face his own window. Reyna turned back as well, then smiled.

"If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have." she mumbled silently, hoping he wouldn't hear. But he did, and gave a lopsided grin as he stared out the window thinking. He suddenly felt a wave of vertigo and nausea pour over him all at once. His vision blurred and became red, and he started sweating and twitching.

'Keep fighting, Lyte. Let's see what you're made of." the Darkness taunted in his head. Micah quickly shook it off before anyone noticed. He reached under his shirt and tenderly felt his back, then winced.

'Yep, still there.' he whined to himself.

"Hey, guys! We're here!" Leo sang excitedly. They pulled into the airport parking lot, and said their goodbyes to Argus, grabbed their bags, and headed into the airport. They got their tickets, and sat together waiting. Their plane wasn't due for departure until 12:00. Jason looked at his watch impatiently. 11:45. Argus sure had timing, he couldn't deny that. Jason sighed and tapped his foot impatiently. Piper put a gentle hand on his.

"Jason, baby." she began.

"Yes, Pipes my love" Jason replied.

"Calm down. She commanded sweetly. He looked over and cocked and eyebrow.

"Are you… charmspeaking me?!?" he said as offendedly as he could muster. She smirked and grabbed his hand.

"Of course, Jay. You know you love it too." she cooed.

"You know me so well, darling." he admitted, resting his head on her shoulder. She ran her fingers through his hair. Jason sighed, like a little kid waiting in line for a roller-coaster. Piper couldn't help but laugh.

"You are such a baby, Jason." she chuckled. He looked up at her, a twinkle in his electric baby-blues.

"But I'm YOUR baby." he insisted. She kissed the top of his head, resting her head on top of his.

"That you are, Jason." she said contently. Micah sat a few seats down, still recovering from the recent episode. He looked around inconspicuously. Something felt… off. He looked over at his friends. Annabeth sat in Percy's lap, trying in vain to explain some blueprints she had drawn up for Olympus. Piper and Jason sat with their heads on top of eachother, Leo was busy on the phone with Calypso, and Frank and Hazel 'nonchalantly' held hands and talked. Reyna sat with her arms crossed, looking off into the distance. Micah then looked past his friends, into the crowd. He saw many people of all descent. He saw and old lady with a walker, trying to maneuver her way through the crowd, he saw a young couple and their child, who was fast asleep in a stroller. He saw a nervous looking young man, buying something from the gift shop. Then his eyes fell on someone who definitely stood out. He was wearing an all black trench coat, hood up to hide his face. He looked to be about 20 years old, no more, and was relatively thin. The man stood up, and seemed to vanish into the crowd. Just as Micah was about to get up and follow him, their flight was announced.

"Hey, guys, that's us. Let's get a move on." Annabeth told them as she took Percy's hand, trying to calm his nervousness about flying for the first time. Micah looked back once more, eyeing the crowd for the hooded figure, but couldn'td find him anywhere. Micah gave up and followed his friends into the airliner. When they got inside, they were led to their seats by a chipper flight attendant. They took up 2 whole rows, and they definitely looked a bit out of place, but no one seemed to notice. Percy was gripping the arm of his seat so hard his knuckles were turning white. Annabeth and Reyna switched seats so Annabeth could try and calm Percy. Micah sat on the very end, a strange feeling of heat and dizziness washing over him.

'Yes… keep fighting, Lyte. Oh, I haven't had this much fun in I don't know when!'

Micah shook his head, resting it against the back of his seat. He closed his eyes, regaining a little bit of composure. He looked around, trying to take his mind off of things. He saw a young boy, eagerly kicking the back of his seat in anticipation, a lady who was fixing her makeup in a tiny, hand-held mirror, and a flight attendant asking what she could do to make the flight more enjoyable. Then he saw him. The guy from the airport. Black trench coat, thin… bingo. The guy seemed to notice Micah noticing him. He quickly stood up and walked through the curtain separating the classes. Micah quickly stood up and followed him.

"Micah, what's wrong?" Hazel asked, as she was the only one who noticed.

"Just checking on somethin, Haze, everything's fine." he replied, not stopping. He opened the curtain mere seconds after the man, but he was gone. At the same moment iqn the loading bay, the figure stepped out from behind a crate and sighed. That was close.

'Who was that guy, and what was he doing there?' he wondered. He stepped out from behind the box, only to run face first into..

"Boo." Micah said unenthusiastically. The man stumbled backwards.

"How… how did you.." the guy said surprisedly. Micah chuckled, grabbing his trenchcoat.

"I'm quicker than I look. Now, tell me, why are you following us?" He growled.

"Us? Hey, whoa… I'm an old friend of theirs." the man said, removing his hood. That was no man… he was a kid their age. Dark black hair, pale skin, looked like he hadn't slept for a while.

"I'm Nico… Nico di Angelo."


	23. Chapter 23: Old Friends, New Wounds

"...Nico… I've heard Percy and the others talk about you…" Micah said as he set him down. Nico brushed himself off.

"Sorry, I… I thought you were a monster." Micah explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't worry about it, I would have done the same thing in your position." Nico forgave.

"Can we get to the group though, its kinda urgent." he asked. In a split second they were back with the group. Hazel was the first to notice, tears in her eyes.

"Nico… Oh my gods, NICO!" she cried, lunging at him to give him a hug. He stood unmoving, then smirked and hugged her back.

"Geez, miss me much?" he playfully chided. She stepped back and gave him an angry look.

"Nico, you're my brother! You were gone for 4 months, without calling or anything! Of course I missed you!!" She said, hugging him again.

"I was worried sick!" she added. He held her tighter.

"You knew I wasn't dead." he tried. She punched him in the arm, then sat back down if a huff as everyone else got up and greeted their old friend. Ever since they had put Mother Earth to sleep, Nico had been seldom seen. He would appear every once in a while just to check in, but other than that he wasn't around. Then, about 4 months ago, he simply… vanished. Percy, Annabeth, Hazel… everyone had tried to get in contact with him, to no avail. He was just… gone. Now, here he was, just as swiftly as he had vanished.

"Nico, man… you had us worried sick, dude!" Percy said, giving him a hug. Annabeth analyzed him carefully. He had changed quite a bit, much more than she ever thought possible in just 4 months. His hair was longer, almost reaching his shoulders, his arms and upper body were much more… defined. He still looked tired, but still… less. He seemed to carry less of a burden than she had seen in quite a while. Micah just stared at him, a look of deep thought on his face.

"We've met before, Nico." he finally said. Nico looked at him in confusion.

"It was 2 years ago, California. You were being attacked by some 3 headed dog, if I recall. Almost got your head bit off." He elaborated. Nico's eyes got huge.

"You're the guy that rescued me from the hell hound?!?" Nico asked surprisedly, then realized.

"Oh my gods! It is you!! Wow, what are the odds?" Nico said as energetically as a Nico could. Micah nodded.

"So, how'd you find us?" Leo asked. Nico seemed to remember why he was there.

"Right. Um, I came to warn you. I've been trying to tell you guys for a while, but…" Nico looked around incredulously.

"He's got eyes everywhere. I've been secretly gathering information for months. It takes quite a presence to make the dead afraid. Something huge is coming, from deep within Tartarus." Nico explained. They all looked at one another, traces of fear in their eyes.

"That's not all" Nico continued. "I was informed by a trusted source that this prophecy, this eldest prophecy; it holds the key to the very survival of our world. Whatever it says you have to do, do it." Nico stood up, and faced them, smiling.

"Well, I better get going. I've done my job. I'll see you guys around." he said, turning away. Micah placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Actually, I was thinking you stick around for awhile. How would you like to join us on our unwinnable mission?" Micah asked. Nico turned back in surprise, looking at the group.

"Nico, you've already proven yourself in battle after battle. You've got enough skill to survive out in the world on your own, and believe me, I know that takes something special. The prophecy we received said that, me, the 7, and 3 more will together stand and face the greatest evil our world has ever known. Look, I'm just here to protect my new family, whatever the cost. I'd like you to be a part of that family, Nico" Micah finished. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Nico sighed and smiled, sitting down and putting his feet up.

"Kay. I'm in." He said nonchalantly. Everyone beamed, and Micah sat back down next to him.

"Well then, welcome to our Squad." he said. Just then, the 'please fasten your seatbelt' sign lit up. The plane was about to take off, and they all couldn't be happier. They had just gained an old friend to help tackle a new threat, and they felt more powerful already.

*BREAK*

Micah woke up that night sweating like crazy, and feeling extremely sick.

'Why? Why me?' he thought. He stood up and stumbled towards the restroom. And who should come out but Reyna.

'The Fates must have a sense of humor.' Micah mentally groaned. Not that he didn't like Reyna, that couldn't be less true. It's just that he was tired of her having to witness him at his weakest all the time. But it was too late for that now, as he could already see the look of worry all over her face.

"Mike…" she began

"Im.. Im fine, Rey, just a little airsick." he forced a small smile. She didn't buy it for a second, but slid past him and headed for her seat.

"If you need anything…" she whispered. He nodded then darted into the tiny restroom. As soon as he had locked the door, he looked in the mirror. Something was off, he could feel it. He felt way too weak, like something was sucking the life out of him. He pulled off his shirt, and unwrapped the bandage Reyna had applied. He could feel his heart stop when he saw the wound. From the initial cut, tiny spider web-like black veins weaved out in all directions. The wound itself was a sickly black-purple, and was still sore. He touched it, and looked at the fluid on his hand. It was pitch black as well. There was only one explanation.

'Poison. Dang it.' Micah growled. He put his shirt back on, the stepped out of the restroom. He looked over at his friends, then recalled Zeus' note. They were needed asap; no time for deteurs. This could wait. It had to wait. He worked his way back to his seat, and gingerly sat down next to Reyna. She looked over and smiled, placing hand on his.

"You ok? Nightmares again?" she asked softly. Micah smiled.

"Not yet. Night Reyna." he answered, leaning back in the seat and closing his eyes. Reyna slowly slipped her hand out of his. She was about to go to sleep, when she felt something on her hand. She used her phone's flashlight, and examined the slippery substance. It was black, but felt like blood. Cautiously, she brought it up to her nose and sniffed it.

'Poison…' She thought, 'But.. how did…' she stopped herself in realization. She looked over at Micah, then back at her hand. They were going to have one heck of a talk in the morning. And not the good kind.


	24. Chapter 24: Recall at Lytespeed

Micah woke up to the sound of an airplane flying, his friends nowhere to be seen. He was very confused, quickly looking around, then flinching, his back still pretty sore. He never slept this long without dreams, especially recently.

'Oh, you can go ahead and sleep, Lyte. I have so much more fun with you during the day. Oh, and do you like your little… gift? You were right in there, Micah, poison.'

Micah shook off the voice and sat up. Then he realized Reyna was staring at him, arms crossed and a p'd off look on her face.

"Where is…"

"They all went to get food. Apparently the plane has a food bar." she said annoyedly.

"So, how are you feeling?" she prodded. Micah tried to play it cool, and shrugged.

"I feel pretty great, thanks." he said, slowly stretching. Reyna's look went into 2nd gear, getting even more angry looking.

"And your back wound? How's that coming along?" she growled through grit teeth. Micah didn't make eye contact, suddenly becoming very interested in a loose thread in the back of the chair in front of him. Reyna sat down and crossed her arms. Then, she grabbed his arm and drug him just outside of the bathroom.

"Show me." she demanded. Micah didn't move. She sighed and dropped the angry look.

"...please?" she plead. He sighed and turned around, then slowly removed his shirt. He knew it was bad when he heard her gasp. He quickly slipped his shirt back on, then turned to face her, defeat and sorrow written all over his face.

'How weak she must think you are,' the Darkness chuckled.

'Every time you 2 spend time together, it's so she can fix another one of your problems.' it finished.

"H.. how long had it been like this?" she questioned.

"Since it happened." he monotonously answered. She looked up curiously into his dark grey eyes. For a split second, she could almost see the life force being slowly drained out of him. She stepped back, horrified, tears forming in her eyes.

"You… you're…" she began. Micah looked down in utter defeat.

"I'm dying, Rey… yeah. I can feel it. I'm getting slower, weaker…. Much more tired. If I had to guess, I'd say I can hold out for a month, tops. But yeah… this isn't gonna end so well for me." he finished, then stepped out from behind the curtains and headed back to his seat. He rested his head in his hand, staring off into space. Reyna quickly followed, sitting down next to him, worry evident all over her face.

"We need to get you help, Mikey. If we got help now, we could.."

"No time. If Zeus thinks this is urgent enough to let Percy fly, and send a personal note saying so, this quest needs to be done muy rápidamente." He explained. He then turned and forced a smile.

"Besides, I don't think there's any cure for this, Reyna." She sat back overwhelmed by all of this. She didn't even know how she felt about all this. She had met this guy less than a month ago, why was this such a big deal to her?

'Because,' the little voice in her head chided. ' He's our best friend. Since day one he's been nothing but kind to us. He's shared some of his deep secrets and weaknesses with us, and always been kind.'

"How did you know I was from Mexico?" Reyna asked out-of-the-blue. He smiled and rested his head on the back of his seat.

"You're not. You're from Puerto Rico." he replied. She looked at him like he had just read through her diary.

"We've met before, Reyna. A very long time ago. I was 10 years old, hadn't been on the run for long. I was being chased by some fire...lava… thing. In desperation, I jumped into a shipping crate headed to who knows where. The ship set off, and I stayed in the crate. I had been running for quite a long time, and I was very tired. I passed out in that crate, and when I woke up, I was at a shipping dock in Puerto Rico. I had already lived about 6 months in Mexico, so I could speak Spanish. I stumbled around, dazed and confused. I stayed in some abandoned house for a few nights, roaming the streets by day. One day, as I'm walking, I hear this scream. I turned around and saw a very tall girl running down the street, pulling a smaller girl along with her."

"You.. you were there…" Reyna realized. Micah nodded.

"I didn't realize until last night, when in your sleep you said the same thing as the little girl I saw. When her sister fell down, and she ran back and helped her up, screaming…"

"Together. You promised, Hylla… together." Reyna finished, on the verge of tears. She looked at him suddenly.

"The.. the monster that was after us, did you…?" she asked. Micah nodded and pulled up his shirt just a little. She saw a white, circular scar about the size or a tennis ball just below his ribs, on the left hand side.

"My favorite scar." he said sentimentally.

"Why?"

"Because," he explained happily. "I got this one doing something for someone else. Never thought I'd actually meet you." She remembered that day, replaying it as best she could in her mind, trying to recall a younger Micah. Then she remembered. A skinny boy, about her height, sandy-chocolate brown hair, and a light tan, looking at her confusedly with vibrant bright green eyes. She was busy running for her life, but she clearly remembered thinking

'Whoa… hot boy.' She remembered helping her sister up, and the two of them running to an ally, slumping over and catching their breath. Hylla thought they had lost him. But they hadn't. Little did she know that, at that same time not 2 allies over, laid 10 year old Micah, a spear straight through his left side, and a pile of monster dust in front of him.

"What happened to your eyes, Mike?" she asked. He shrugged and looked down.

"I don't really know. Must have been all the running and lack of sleep." he supplied. She nodded, then laid her head on his shoulder. He smiled, looking at her kindly.

"So, you do remember?" he asked. She nodded. There was a sacred silence for a few moments.

"Thank you… I never did get the chance to thank you." she said quietly. Micah was still leaned up against his seat.

"It was my pleasure, Reyna… my pleasure." he said tiredly. She looked up at him sadly, then grabbed his hand.

"We need to get you help. Micah. You can't … I can't let you…" Reyna stuttered. Micah squeezed her hand back.

"As long as you need me here, if I can help it, I'll be here." he promised. Just then, the pilot announced their descent. They were in Athens. They were beginning their quest.


	25. Chapter 25: Family Feuds

The 10 of them all left the plane together. Apparently, they had been waiting for 30 minutes to get breakfast at the plane's snack bar, only to land before they could get anything. Needless to say, they were all more than a little crouchy.

"Ugggh!! I'm soooo hungry!!" Leo complained, then looked over at Micah hopefully. Micah sighed and smirked, rolling up his sleeves.

"What do we want?" He asked. Leo tapped his chin in thought.

"McD's Big Breakfast?" he said hopefully. After their last run-in with Ronald, everyone seemed more than a little hesitant… well, the girls were, anyways. The boys, on the other hand, were vehemently agreeing. Micah wrote their orders on his arm, then walked over to the ladies. They all agreed to get McGriddles. Micah finally came to Reyna.

"And for you?" he asked. She turned her back to the rest of the group.

'Are you sure you're up for this?' she whispered. He nodded.

'I'll be fine. I'm feeling alot better.' he replied. She got the same as the other girls. He flew off in a cloud of dust. In mere seconds, he was back, bags around both arms. He handed everyone their food, and they all sat down to eat. They ate breakfast, then headed into the town itself. Nestled up on a mountainside, it was a beautiful mixture of ancient culture and modern convenience. They walked around for a little while, taking in the scenery, Annabeth pointing out the amazing architecture. Micah had been in Athens before, trying to escape the Secret Legion of Apollo… but that was a story for another time. As soon as they found a traveler's rest area, they searched for a map, and located Mount Mytikas.

"Oh… dang." Leo commented. Everyone piled around him, looking at the map.

"Its 5 hours away." he explained. Micah groaned, then looked at Nico.

"How many can you take?" Micah asked. Nico shrugged.

"I can take at least 4 that far, easy." he replied

"I can get the rest. Let's get there." he instructed. Nico took Frank, Hazel, Piper, and Jason, and shadow traveled. Micah grabbed Percy, and took off, then reappeared nanoseconds later, grabbing Annabeth, then Leo, and finally Reyna. Seconds later, Nico and the rest of the group stepped out of the shadows. Micah smirked deviously at Nico.

"I win." he fake-gloated. Nico just rolled his eyes. They all turned and faced the mountain.

"Sooo… Olympus Prime. Kinda surreal…. Kinda creepy too." Leo commented. They all nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's get going. We want to make it to the summit before night." Piper suggested. They began to climb the mountain, all nervous and worried about what laid ahead of them. For the next 3 hours they climbed, no one saying much at all. Finally, they reached the peak. They all stood together, the silhouette of true warriors… until Leo came huffing over to join them. He rolled over on his back, panting like a dog.

"Oh man, dudes… that was rough. I.. I think I may have thrown up on Olympus just a little bit. Ok, a lot." he groaned. They all rolled their eyes and helped him up, then looked around.

"Well, we climbed the tallest mountain's peak, soo…" Jason asked looking around. They all looked for any signs of any kind of prophecy. Nothing. Just miles and miles of skyline below them. They weren't at the exact peak, more like under the peak. They were standing on a ledge that went into a little cave-like dip into the mountain. Frank walked into the dip and looked around. Then he saw it. Letters.

"Guys, I think I may have found something!!" he called. They all piled into the tiny indenture, Annabeth pushing to the front. She looked at the writing, then stepped back.

"Latin. Not my strong suit. Jason, translate." she asked. He shrugged and stepped up. In Latin, the wall read 'Et Lyte et vocant, a provocatione incipere'.

"It says 'The Lyte shall call, a challenge commence.' Jason said. As the last word was spoken, the letters lit up a bright purple, and something else became visible; a handprint. On the wall below the writing, the outline of a hand was also glowing a strong purple. They all looked around at one another, then at Micah. He stepped up, and slowly placed his hand on the imprint. The creases of the rock all glowed, then a beam of purple shot up into the sky, then vanished. They all stood still, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing.

"Maybe it's broke?" Leo suggested.

"I assure you, Mr. Valdez, it is not broken." a voice called from outside of the cave. They walked out, and saw a man standing on the mountain. He had dark brown hair, caramel skin, and looked almost identical to Micah and Luke. They all knew exactly who he was; Mercury. The Roman personification of Hermes, messenger of Olympus. He stepped towards the group, heading straight for Micah. Micah was heading towards him, too. Mercury was not at all prepared for the right hook Micah drove into his jaw, knocking him clean over. Though he didn't see the punch coming, he didn't look too surprised by it either. The rest of the group went stiff.

"Duuuude… you just punched a god. Why did you punch a god??" Leo asked frantically. Meanwhile, Piper and Annabeth were helping Mercury up.

"I'm so sorry, Lord Mercury, he didn't know." Annabeth plead.

"Oh, I knew." Micah spat, a disgusted look on his face. He stepped forwards towards Mercury threateningly.

"We both know that I know perfectly well who you are, and quite frankly I don't care. Leave me alone. I don't want you to even BREATHE near me!" he growled, then started walking away in a huff.

"But, Micah, don't you want the eldest prophecy?" Mercury called. Micah stopped cold. A few seconds went by, until finally he turned around. He appeared in front of Mercury in an instant.

"15 words, Mercury. 15 words and if I don't like what I hear, I'm going to turn around and leave." Micah hissed venomously.

"To earn the right to go on this quest, you have to beat me in a race." Mercury explained.

"That was 17… but whatever. Why would I need to beat you in a race?" Micah said impatiently.

"Many thousands of years ago, on this very mountain, while we were building the original Olympus, Zeus found an ancient scroll of unknown origin. This scroll contained details of a quest that the prophesied Lyte would embark on. It spoke of… something… so powerful, Zeus decreed that a trial be held before bestowing it upon any hero, to ensure that the scroll doesn't fall into the wrong hands. I was placed in charge of testing any who would claim to be the warrior of legend. So, if you want to receive our most ancient of quests, you must prove yourself worthy; by beating me in a race." Mercury explained. Micah didn't say anything. He turned to the other 10.

"We'll talk it over." he grumbled. He walked over to the group, who were quite frankly p'd at his behavior.

"Dude, do you WANT to get us killed?" Percy growled. Micah scoffed.

"He won't kill us. Not as long as we serve some purpose to them." Micah said spitefully. Annabeth went over to talk to Mercury, while the others tried to cool Micah down a bit. When Annabeth reached Mercury, she bowed. He waved her off.

"Not need for that, Annabeth Chase, you have proven yourself a hero of Olympus many times. You are welcome in my presence anytime." he said kindly. She stood up and smiled.

"Thank you, Lord Mercury." There was a silence between them, until Annabeth spoke up.

"Lord Mercury, if I may, you are the literal GOD of speed. Micah's ridiculously fast, don't get me wrong, but… there is NO way he could beat you in a race…" she said apprehensively. Mercury said nothing.

"... Is there?" she questioned.

"Micah is… very different… even by demigod standards, Annabeth. He had more power within him than even Zeus knows." Mercury said.

"But, Micah… he is your son.. right?" she asked. He didn't answer, merely standing up and walking over to Micah.

"Well, have made your decision, Micah?" he asked. Micah glared at him angrily.

"Fine, Mercury. You win. I'll race you." he said unhappily. Mercury simply nodded. He snapped his fingers, and a purple starting line spontaneously appeared on the ground.

"First one around the world 3 times wins." Mercury explained. They lined up on the starting line.

"ON YOUR MARKS…" Annabeth said loudly.

"So be it." Micah growled.

"GET SET…" both of them dropped to runners positions. Micah glared daggers of hate and determination into the god. Mercury saw him and smiled.

"Very confident, Micah. Need I remind you that you are racing the god of speed?" he smirked. Micah looked at him murderously.

"You're no god of mine." he lashed out wickedly, then looked ahead sternly.

"GO!" She yelled, and they were off in a huge cloud of dust. To the rest of the group, they looked dead even, but Mercury and Micah knew the truth. Micah was well ahead of Mercury, at least a few yards. As he ran, Micah used his horrible memories as fuel to push himself forwards. He remembered the day Mercury showed up to him on the streets, telling him the horrible truth about his mother, and his past, and what he truly was. He remembered Mercury telling him that these ridiculous Olympian 'gods' weren't allowed to even help him, because they didn't trust one another with such a 'valuable piece' such as himself, like he was some sort of… object. Tears formed in his eyes as he recalled the same being he was forced to race tell him that all he could do was wish him luck and leave him to fend for himself… at 13 years old. To Micah, they were all as good as dead. He did nothing for them, in fact he abhorred the thought. The only reason he was even on this dang quest was because he swore to himself to keep his new family safe. So he dug deeper, past the searing pain in his back, and surged forwards, until finally, he came to a screeching halt, right back where they had started. To everyone else, it looked like the two of them arrived at the same time. But Mercury reached into his satchel, and pulled out an ancient scroll.

"I knew all along, but here." he said, handing Micah the scroll, the others staring in disbelief.

"You truly are Olympus' Lyte. May your quest be prosperous." Micah yanked it out of his hands.

"You can tell Olympus they ought to know; I was never _their_ Lyte." Micah told him off, then marched down the mountain without another word. Mercury sighed, then addressed the group.

"Go, heroes; catch up with your friend."

"He didn't, like, curse us ALL to death.. did he?" Frank asked nervously. Mercury chuckled a little.

"No, Frank. As he said, Olympus won't kill any of you. You are to invaluable to us. You are our heroes." he winked. Everyone but Annabeth and Reyna bowed, then ran down the mountain after Micah.

"Lord Mercury… you're not his father… are you?" she asked cautiously. He merely shook his head.

"Then… who is?" she asked. He looked at her sadly.

"When the time is right, he'll tell you. It's much more… complicated than you think. He'll tell you when he's ready." Mercury said, then turned away from them. Annabeth was heading down the hill, and Reyna was about to follow, when Mercury called out

"Oh, and Reyna." she turned and faced him

"You were right, about the Fates; they do want it that way." he winked and she blushed a deep crimson, bowing.

"Take care of him for me. No matter how he feels, or what the truth is, he's still my boy." Mercury said sadly. He reached into his satchel, pulling out a green liquid in a glass bottle.

"When you need it most, use this. It will fix everything." he explained. Reyna looked up at him with quesrions in her eyes, but as swiftly as he came, he vanished. Reyna wrapped the bottle in a few of her shirts, placed it in her bookbag, and ran to catch up with the others. This was it; the eldest prophecy. They were only one scroll-opening away from the greatest quest of all time.


	26. Chapter 26: Its Days Like These

Reyna and Annabeth caught up with the rest of the group, who were already engaged in a pretty heavy argument with Micah.

"Dude, you almost got us all killed up there, what were you thinking?!?" Percy chastised.

"WERE you thinking…." Leo added almost inaudibly. Frank heard and punched him in the arm, earning a yelp from Leo.

"Seriously, man, you've got to be more careful when you're addressing the gods." Jason agreed. Micah whipped around, Jason clearly touching a nerve.

"They aren't gods! They have weaknesses; flaws, probably more than you and I do. They get sad, jealous, angry, nervous, depressed just like we do. They're nothing but a bunch of overgrown children with too much power! They taught me that they care nothing about anything they bring into existence. So no, I don't like them or respect them. At all." He yelled. Jason and Percy both stood their ground, and everyone else looked back and forth between Percy and Jason, and Micah. They could feel the power radiating from the 3, until Micah suddenly untensed and sighed.

"Look, let's just focus on this dumb quest. We've spent enough time just getting here." He said quickly, and before anyone could say otherwise, he steadily unrolled the ancient scroll. Folded up inside was another piece of ancient papaya. He read the scroll's ancient Greek inscription aloud:

'A quest to procure the most ancient of power,

Before our world the dark may devour

Follow the clews, collect each piece

Together the most ancient of objects release.'

They all stood very confused. Most ancient of objects? Clews?

"Read the other paper." Annabeth suggested. Micah unfolded the paper, and read it as well:

'The Great Immortalized in gold

His story is forever told

The path of shadows you must trace

And find his final resting place'

No one knew really what to say. They all just stood thinking.

"The Great? Great what? Great... great down undah? Great Wall of China? Maybe Great Balls of Fire?" Leo joked. They all groaned at him.

"This 'clew' doesn't seem to be a prophecy. It rhymes in couplets and all, but it doesn't seem to foreshadow anything." Hazel commented.

"It's a riddle." Nico stated quietly. They all looked over at him, leaning up against a tree and twisting his skull ring.

"Nico's right. It seems to be a puzzle of some sort." Piper agreed.

"But what's the Great Immortalized in gold?" Percy asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say maybe a statue or other relic. But there were many great leaders and warriors immortalized in statue form." Annabeth questioned.

"But how many were golden?" Jason added. Micah looked up suddenly.

"Guys, The great? Who's the only great who people remember from ancient Greece?" he asked. There were a couple of seconds of silence.

"Alexander!" Annabeth cried, kicking herself for not realizing sooner.

"Right. Now, we need to find 'his final resting place'." Frank stated.

"Historian's don't agree where his body was laid to rest." Annabeth explained.

"What about memorials? He has to have some form of ancient shrine." Leo questioned

"I bet you that's where we are supposed to go." Nico agreed. They all nodded, Annabeth going berserk on her laptop, typing wildly until she turned it to face them.

"Here. The Philippeion. Its an ancient temple near the Unesco Archaeological Site. It's approximately 7 hours away. Guess we'll need…." Annabeth was interrupted by the sound of a van's horn. They turned to see Argus, waving from behind the wheel.

"How did he…" Hazel started to question. They all shrugged and ran over to the van, hopping in.

"Argus, could you take us to the Unesco Archaeological Site?" Percy asked. Argus simply nodded and, when they were all seated, sped off towards their destination. Annabeth pulled up all the research she could on the Philippeion, while everyone else talked over the clew. Micah sat in the back seat alone, Reyna sitting with Hazel, Piper, and Annabeth. Micah had his head propped against the window and seat, seat already forming on his forehead.

'There once was a crooked man, who had a crooked smile,

'And on this quest, though try your best, he'll put you through a trial.

He lives for your torment, feeds from your strife,

And cuts you with darkness, just like a knife.

He rings in your ears like a note from a fife,

And never will stop 'til he steals your life' the dark voice whispered maniacally.

Micah reached up to wipe the sweat off of his nose. He felt a thicker liquid dripping down his face. He looked at his hand, only to see it was now covered in inky-black blood. He hesitantly touched one of his nostrils. A steady trickle of the substance ran down his finger. Micah grabbed a tissue from his backpack, and gently wiped his nose. He was fading much faster than he had been that morning.

'The race. When I run, my blood pumps way faster… must coarse this gunk through my veins faster, too.' Micah thought to himself. He looked around at the others, all discussing the quest, and the clew, and what they thought was coming. He smiled a little, then rested his head once again.

'Hopefully I can hold out long enough to finish this stupid quest.' he prayed. Nico suddenly looked around, fear in his eyes.

'Someone's dying.' Nico thought, a little more calmly than he looked. He looked around, until he met Reyna's gaze. She looked puzzled, so she switched seats with Frank.

"What's up, Neeks?" she whispered. He looked at her solemnly, deciding whether or not to tell her.

"Death is very near. I can feel it, Reyna." he explained. She looked very scared, and Nico read her like a book.

"You know who it is, don't you?" she nodded slowly, then gestured to Micah, who was resting his head and refusing to make eye contact. Nico slipped into Micah's seat, Reyna right behind him. Nico saw the tissue, and picked it up, instantly overwhelmed with the toxically strong presence of death.

"You're not well, Micah." Nico said low enough that no one could hear.

"I'm fine, Nico. Just a little tired." Micah tried to convince. Nico just narrowed his gaze.

"I'm never wrong about death, Micah. Don't insult my abilities." he said commandingly. Nico placed a hand on his arm, closed his eyes and concentrated. He winced at the sudden devastating feeling of death's bony fingers closing around a soul.

"What in Hades... You.. you should be dead." Nico informed.

"With the amount of poison in your blood, you shouldn't be living. I can feel your body crying out for death, but at the same time, it seems to be giving superhuman resistance." Nico explained.

"What does THAT feel like?" Micah asked.

"Unnatural. And kinda itchy." Nico answered.

"Why didn't you say anything? You've known for at least a few days." he accused. Micah sighed.

"We don't have time, Nico. We need to complete this quest as quickly as we can. You said it yourself, the fate of the world depends on it. We can jeopardize the whole human race just for my personal health." he said weakly. Nico said nothing.

"Can you tell me how long I have?" Micah questioned. Nico just touched his arm once again, scrunching his nose in concentration.

"About 3 weeks, Micah. After that, your body will seize up…" Nico trailed off.

"Then, I guess we have 3 weeks to complete this quest." Micah said seriously.

"3 weeks to collect the pieces, assemble some ancient weapon… thing… and stop the most powerful threat living creatures have ever faced. Let's get started."


	27. Chapter 27: The Silent Discussion

Reyna leaned her head against the window, looking down at the boy whose head rested in her lap.

'I am SO going soft…' she brain-groaned. Micah had fallen asleep about an hour ago, and on a sharp turn, his head slid down onto Reyna's shoulder. Had this happened about a year ago, she would have shrugged him off of her, making him lean on the window. But no, for some reason unbeknownst to herself, Reyna instead gently set his head in her lap so he could sleep. They had been on the road for 3 hours, and it was already late when they left.

'Why do I always end up sitting with you, Mike?' she thought as she stared at his sleeping form. A grin crept its way onto her face, along with a touch of rose to her cheeks

'Right, the Fates.' she pondered. She looked at everyone else, the girls all cuddling their respective partners, and Nico reclined in the passenger seat. She then pulled out her phone and entered her photos. She smiled as she pulled up the picture of her and Micah, him holding her as they slept in the back seat.

'Thanks, Jackson.' she thought happily, then instantly went rigid.

'Oh no. Nonononono! This can't be happening. Reyna, you're an 18 year old praetor, a lethal killer, and a proudly independent single woman. You're not EVEN crushing on some boy you just met, like, less than 2 weeks ago. I mean come on. Sure, he's gorgeously handsome, and amazingly ripped, and maybe he is super kind to you, and saved your life a couple of 10 times already. And so what if he's a great listener and is willing to share his own deepest worries, and… where was I going with this?' she was interrupted by Micah's head tossing and turning. She looked down to see his face contorted in pain, and instinctively grabbed his hand. The pain evaporated from his face, and he smiled and hummed in his sleep.

'Gods you're adorable…. STOP IT! STOP BEING SO ADORABLE!!!' she mentally yelled at him. As if in response, he quickly reached up and grabbed his neck pain-strickenly. He moaned in pain, clutching right under his jawline . Suddenly, he jolted up, looking around wildly. After a moment, he realized where he was.

"Oh, hey." he said.

"Hey. You ok?" she asked. He simply nodded. Silence filled the air, save snores from a few of the group. Finally, Reyna worked up the courage to ask.

"What… what were you dreaming about?" she asked. He seemed to instantly wake up, hanging his head a little bit.

"Just…. Nightmares." he responded. More silence.

"You wanna talk about it?" she asked quietly. He didn't respond for a few minutes.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to, Rey." he tried unsuccessfully to joke. She touched his arm gently.

"You can tell me. I want to help you." she said kindly. He drew in a breath, and began.

"It was 2006, October. I was in San Jose, working a deal for Archy, one of my underground monster contacts… long story… He had tipped me off about some major artifact being brought to some crazy psycho demigod guy to use in some crazy revenge plot to wipe out all of the Sons of some god. Arch promised me $10000 to find and retrieve this ancient weapon. I accepted, and ran to Houston, where he told me the deal was happening. He must have forgotten to mention that this object was guarded by a giant undead warrior. I tried to fight it, avoiding its blows, but…. " He turned his neck, and Reyna saw a long, white scar along the left side of his neck.

"Sometimes even I'm not fast enough." he ended.

"Stygian Iron takes a whole lot longer to heal from, learned that from experience." he added. He looked out the window sadly.

'Yes…. Now you see, don't you? You're a despicable failure, a weak, frail misfit monster that shouldn't even exist. No one wants you, Lyte. Give up; let me give you the peace you so desperately desire.' the darkness tantalized. Micah shook his head.

'I have a job to do.' he thought to himself. Reyna saw the struggle on Micah's face. He was fighting… whatever it was. She reached over and grabbed his hand. A small smile appeared on his face.

"And here I thought my life sucked." Reyna chuckled. Micah couldn't help but laugh. She leaned her head on his shoulder, his head resting on the window.

"Thanks for being such a good friend, Rey." he whispered.

"Yep. I'm the best." she smirked. Micah fell asleep quickly after that, pleasant dreams replacing horrible nightmares.

BREAK*

Percy woke up and looked outside. It was still dark, and he could barely make out the countryside whirring by. He was laying on his back, Annabeth on top of him snoring softly, using his chest as a pillow. Percy felt a gaseous pressure building up in his stomach.

'Oh crap. Don't you da….' he thought, but his body had other plans. His stomach growled loudly, begging for substance. Percy slowly opened his eyes, sighing slightly when he saw Annabeth remains unawakened.

'Foooooood' he thought. Annabeth was still asleep, and Percy knew from experience not to wake a sleeping Annabeth. He peeked his head just over the edge of their seat, and looked behind him, only to see Jason doing the same. He looked forwards, and Frank was also awake. They said not a word as they conversed with their eyes, their significant others all using them as some form of pillow.

'Jason, I need food.' Percy looked. Jason nodded

'Me too, dude.'

'Dude, I have cookies.'

'You have cookies?' Jason eyed excitedly

'I have cookies.' Percy wordlessly affirmed. Jason looked over to Frank.

'He has cookies!!'

'Yesss!' Frank celebrated without a noise. Jason looked back at Percy.

'Where are said cookies?'

'In my bag!!'

'But our bags are in the back.'

'Dude, can't you try to reach it?!?' Franks eyes begged. Jason shook his head.

'Well, this is it guys' Percy's green eyes said depressedly.

'Never thought it would end like this.' Frank looked seriously.

'It's been an honor knowing you guys. I can't think of 2 dudes I'd rather starve with.' Jason silently said sentimentally. They all nodded solemnly.

'Wait!! Maybe Mikey can help?' Percy suggested. Jason looked back into Micah's seat. Micah was awake, his stomach demanding food as well, he saw Jason.

'Sup, JJ?'

'Not much, starving. Hey, can you reach Percy's bag? He has cookies.' Micah shrugged, then carefully reached around with his spare hand, and felt until he felt Percy's denim bag, reaching inside and feeling a giant ziplock bag. He pulled it out, and silently grabbed 2 cookies, sliding it to Jason, who follow suit. Percy bit into his cookie like he was disarming a bomb, trying not to wake….

"Seaweed Brain…. What are you doing?" Annabeth moaned

"Muffing…" he whispered, mouth full. She looked up at him, eyebrow raised. He gulped hard, and Annabeth laughed, leaning up and kissing him gently. When she pulled away, she grinned.

"You taste like cookies, Percy." she probed. He reached under his seat, innocently holding up a blue cookie. Thankfully, Annabeth just laughed and took it. After she finished, she sighed and leaned into his chest, breathing in heavily.

"You smell like the ocean." she said dreamily.

"And you smell like… calculators?" Percy tried, making her laugh even more. Out of nowhere, Leo sat up, an ornery grin plastered on his face.

"I smell like BO. Wanna wiff?" he offered. Both Annabeth and Percy's faces recoiled, making Leo laugh and fall back onto his seat. After a while, the rest of the ladies woke up, and they agreed to go through Burger King for breakfast, and about an hour later, Argus gently parked the van, Annabeth gazing out the window.

"This is it, guys: The Philippeion."


	28. Chapter 28: The Lyte Extinguished

They all took a moment to take in the sight before them. The Philippeion was an old, broken down little shrine area, no larger than a gazebo.

"...Seriously? What even IS it?" Leo complained. Annabeth looked at him confusedly.

"The Philippeion." she stated as though everyone in the world knew. Leo's expression still screamed clueless. Annabeth sighed.

"The Philippeion was an Ionic circular memorial built from limestone and marble that was erected by Philip II, King of Macedonia, after the victory of Chaeroneia in 338 BCE. Originally there were 18 Ionic columns and inside were gold and ivory statues of Philip's family; including but not limited to Philip himself, Alexander the Great, Olympias, Amyntas III and Eurydice I." She explained as though that would magically make him understand.

"Oh." was all Leo said. "So… we found the Great Immortalized in gold, now we need to trace the… um…." Leo snapped his fingers, trying to recall.

"Path of Shadows." Micah supplied. Leo grinned at him

"Yeah, that one." Leo affirmed. They all walked to the middle of the little round ruin, finding nothing out of the ordinary in the middle. Micah suddenly stopped, bracing himself on a pillar. No one seemed to notice, so he hesitantly reached under his shirt, and touched his back. He winced, then looked at his hand. It had an inky, oily black liquid dripping down it. He wiped his hand off in the grass, and quickly caught up with everyone before they could notice. They were all just standing in the center of the ruin confusedly.

"So…. I don't see any paths…" Leo commented. While everyone else looked around, Annabeth stood, calculating and processing what lay before her. Finally, she spoke up.

"I think it would be most beneficial for us to split into groups and search the area. I'll take Percy"

"And I've got Frank." Hazel smiled, grabbing his arm.

"I guess I could deal with Piper." Jason smirked and chuckled as she punched his arm.

"I'll keep an eye on Speedy." Reyna fake-scowled. When he smirked at her deviously, she couldn't help but smirk back. Percy's smile seemed to widen as he put his arm around Annabeth. Leo turned and opened his arms at Nico, who groaned.

"Hey Neeks! My man! Dead Dude! Shadowsneak! That-creepy-emo-kid!" Leo shouted, Nico's frown deepening.

"Let's just get this over with." Nico stomped off towards one of the torn-down pieces of the Philippeion relic. Leo chased after him.

"Hey wait! I'll find one you like! Cheeky Neeky? Captain Blacksoul? Death Breath???" Everyone chuckled as Leo chased him down, rapid firing nicknames.

"Well, guys, if you find anything, just shout. Let's find this path of shadows, and get… whatever it is we're here for." Percy said. They all nodded, then spread out in different directions, searching each of the disconnected pieces that had been worn away by weather. As they walked, Percy lightly elbowed Annabeth. She looked up at him confusedly. His eyes darted from Reyna and Micah to Annabeth. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Jackson, I see it." she said. He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, dey's in luuuuuv!!!" he laughed. Annabeth sighed and grabbed his hand.

"Duh, Seaweed Brain, what was you're first clue?"

"It's nice to see Reyna happy, though. She's always been so…." Percy tried to think of the right word.

"Abrasive??" She supplied.

"Yeah, that's a good way to describe it."he agreed. He looked down at her and smiled warmly, kissing the top of her head.

"Have I told you I love you recently?" he asked. She looked at him like he was from a foreign planet. He rolled his eyes and held her closer, never wanting to let go.

Micah and Reyna slowly walked around the main ruin, searching for anything that stood out. The sun was slowly inching its way towards the horizon as they looked for anything that might lead them in the right direction.

'Tick…. Tock….. tick…… tock. Oh, I do so enjoy watching you resist me, even as my poison courses through you body, and spills out your wounds. Weaker and weaker you become, a race against time. But, do you honestly think you can defy ME?' The darkness cooed.

'I will. I will defeat you. For… for my family." Micah retorted weakly. The thing bellowed out in hysterics.

'Your family, Micah? They don't even realize what you are! Once they know the truth, they'll be disgusted by you. Then you'll be alone, cast out of their supposed family like the freak show you are!!!!' It laughed as Micah's head began to pulsate in pain.

'Or you could let me help you, Lyte. I can give you the death, the end you so desire. I can liberate you from the oppression of your worthless life. Just give in, Lyte. Give in….' it whispered. Micah couldn't help it. He felt his very soul being sucked out of his body, his strength sapped out slowly. What color left in his tired, grey eyes suddenly vanished, replaced by black, glassy, voidless spheres. His body crumpled to the ground, Reyna instantly noticing.

"Hey you ok? Micah? Oh gods, Micah!! Are you ok?" she panicked.

'Think, Reyna, THINK! Nico! He'll know what to do!' she thought. She took off to look for him, and found him at the edge of a nearby woods.

"NICO!!! NICO HELP!!!" She screamed. He looked back at her confusedly and worriedly. Leo was off in the woods searching, and everyone else was far enough away that they didn't hear. He looked at her with concern.

"It's Micah…. He just collapsed. He.. he's not moving, Nico." Reyna choked. They both ran back, to find him lying on the ground, his eyes still completely black, not moving an inch. Nico touched his arm. He pulled back, sorrow all over his face.

"He's gone, Reyna. He's dead." Nico said, his voice showing his surprise and emotion. Reyna looked down in shock and sorrow, a tear dripping off of her cheek and onto his face.

'So, the mighty have fallen. Ding Dong, Olympus' Lyte... is dead.' The dark force laughed to itself.

'All is lost, for their hero is no more.'


	29. Chapter 29: Can Death Do Us Apart?

"He's gone, Reyna. He's dead." Nico said, his voice showing his surprise and emotion. She looked down at his lifeless body in disbelief.

"Nononono!" Reyna cried, reaching behind his head and holding his dead body up.

"Wake up!" she commanded. When he didn't respond, she crushed his body in a hug, sobbing as she held him.

"You can't go… we need you… I need you! You promised… you promised me…" she finished, crying as Nico laid a hand on her shoulder. His eyes were moist as well.

"Reyna. There's nothing we can do now. He's gone." Nico tried to pull her away, but she suddenly reached into her bag, and pulled out a glass bottle full of green liquid.

'When you need it most, use it…. It'll fix everything.' she recalled Mercury's words. She opened Micah's mouth, and poured about a quarter of the liquid down his throat. Nothing. She held his body closely, still crying.

"Micah come back… come back to me." she whispered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As he floated through what felt like nothing, Micah recalled the many times he had felt this sensation. Death was nothing new to him; in fact, he had faced Hades' Doors more than he would like to admit. Many times it was by complete chance; freak accidents that he could have never predicted, like getting struck by Zeus' bolt when it had been stolen the first time... another story, another time. But as he began his descent into the Underworld, something felt different. Usually, he could feel his body healing, waiting to suck him back into his body. However, as he floated nearer and nearer, he didn't feel his body healing; There was only one explanation. The poison must have been magically enchanted to stay in his body even after he died.

'So, this is it. My only speed bump in my return has been flattened.' The dark voice rang. Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, an angelic voice spoke.

'Come back to me.' an angelic voice rang through Micahs vision. Micah could feel the Darkness grow gloomy, then heard a scoff

'Well, they always find some loophole. Don't think this is the end, you mortal worm. Our time together has only just begun. Until next time, Lyte.' the darkness dissipated. Micah stretched out towards the voice, everything around him going white. Micah suddenly jolted and sat up, sucking in a massive breath, the life slowly returning to his body. Reyna touched his face, then buried him in a hug.

"How? You were dead!" Nico exasperated. Micah looked up at Reyna, who was trying to regain her composure. He leaned his head onto her shoulder wearily, Reyna stroking his hair.

"You were gone." she managed to sob.

"I was. Then I heard your voice." he whispered into her shoulder. After a few moments, Nico coughed. They both stood up, too emotionally exhausted to blush. Micah felt his back, then pulled off his shirt, both Nico and Reyna surprised. His back was healed. Micah clenched his fist a few times, then sped off, reappearing instantly.

"Other than needing a serious nap, feel incredible!" he marveled. He grabbed both Nico and Reyna in a hug.

"Thank you." he said genuinely. Nico simply and pushed him into Reyna.

"She saved you. I thought you were… gone." Nico said quietly. Then he smiled slyly.

"Well, I need to go find Leo. Yell if I'm needed." he said shadow traveling away.

Micah squeezed her, smiling.

"Thank you." he whispered. Reyna still wasn't yet over the fact that he had literally been dead a few moments ago. After she was brought back to reality, she pushed him away and punched him across the face. He reeled a little, then looked down at her smiling, and wiped a drip of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Do you take some hidden pleasure in hitting me?" he asked. She just gaped at him in pure blind rage, before unleashing on him.

"YOU IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SCARED I WAS?! YOU DIED, MICAH! DIED!" she screamed at him.

"YOU'RE LIKE MY BEST FRIEND! AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE…." She was interrupted by him grabbing her in a bear hug and shushing her quietly as she cried into his chest.

"You're stupid, you know that?! Stupid stupid stupid!" she sobbed. He held her out at arms length, then instinctively wiped her tears with his thumb. He tilted her chin to look right into her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Rey. I didn't mean to do all this to you. The poison was just… too much to fight. But you saved me, and I'm here now. Please understand I would never leave you if I had the. You're my best friend, Reyna… my only best friend." he finished barely above a murmur. He dropped his hand slowly, the realization of how deeply this affected her sinking in. He turned away from her, his shoulders tight from guilt.

'You almost gave in…. You idiot!' he chastised himself angrily.

'You promised her you'd do everything in your power…. And you almost just gave in!' he clenched his fist angrily. His head hung low in shame and anger. Reyna snapped out of her daze and saw how distraught he was. Reyna stepped forwards and hugged him from behind.

"I… I'm sorry I got so mad, Mike…. It's just…."

"No. I'm sorry. I promised you I'd be there for you. I… I failed you." he murmured depressedly.

"Mikey, don't talk like that. You didn't fail me. I… I didn't mean to make you feel that way." she said, resting her head between his shoulder blades.

"You… you just mean alot to me, ok? And I don't want you to leave me alone." she added hopelessly. He turned around and hugged her.

"I will always protect you, Reyna." he promised. She scoffed at the idea.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need a guardian."

"Then I promise I'll always be your friend, Rey." she looked up at him.

"Best friend?"

"Best friend." they were interrupted by a cough, looking up to see everyone else standing there watching. Reyna repelled from him like same-poles of a magnet, blushing profusely. Micah just winked at Percy, which made Percy snicker.

"Whenever you guys are… finished… we think we've found something." he explained. Everyone else walked away, leaving them alone again. Reyna stomped off after them, grumbling about no respect. Micah stretched his back one more time before joining them.

'Man, it feels so good to be back' he thought happily. When they all reached Annabeth, she was staring at the floor, which was now cleared of all the dirt and debris, revealing a pattern.

"Oh, good. You're all here. Check this out. Notice anything?" Annabeth asked. They all looked at it in confusion, until Micah spoke up.

"It's out of order." he said. Annabeth looked at him like she had genuinely not expected anyone to guess.

"Uh, yeah. That's exactly correct. Notice how the pillars, since some are broken, each cast a different sized shadow? But each begins on a piece." Annabeth elaborated. Micah nodded his head, catching on.

"Path of Shadows…. They shadows are arrows, pointing to where each piece goes." he deduced. Annabeth nodded her approval.

"Let's get to work. Everyone, grab a tile, and move it to where the shadow ends." Percy instructed. In about 10 minutes, all but one piece was in its proper place. Piper held the last piece.

"Well, here goes." she shrugged, placing down the final piece. A click could be heard, and they all quickly stepped back as the pieces slid to the left and right, parting to reveal a tunnel underground. Dust and dirt flew up into the air in a cloud. When it dissipated, they were left staring down the pitch black tunnel.

"Yay… more tunnels." Leo nervously deadpanned. Frank slapped him on the back, smiling.

"Light the way bud." he grinned. Leo gulped, then lit his hands shakily, and led the 10 of them into the dark vault.


	30. Chapter 30: Library Treasures

Leo nervously led the way down the dark, mysterious hallway. An icy draft penetrated their clothes down to their very bones. Annabeth shuddered, only to be comforted by Percy putting his arm around her, earning an 'awwwwe' from Leo, who was watching out of the corner of his eye. Their makeshift torch shone light on the walls on the cavern hallway, revealing mysterious figures and glyphs all around.

"Is it just me, or is this place creepy?" Frank asked.

"Oh, it ain't creepy, bro; this here is a special variety of creepy attained only by the most elite creeps. Dis here is ubercreepy." Leo explained. Annabeth looked at him like he had just cursed.

"Ubercreepy isn't a word Leo." she said disgustedly. He just blew raspberries.

"Course it is, Anna." he mocked. Annabeth's eye visibly twitching. Percy held her tighter.

'Baby…. Breathe….' he warned quietly.

"What did you just call me, Valdez?!?" she snarled. She could see his coy grin even in the dark.

"Me? I didn't call you anything…." he said innocently. For a few seconds, you could have heard a pin drop.

"...Anna." he finally said.

"Aaaaand he's dead." Annabeth roared, surging out of Percy's arms and grabbing Leo by the collar, hoisting him off of the ground. Everyone froze. Sweat poured down Leo's face.

"Heyheyhey!!! I was only joshin' you, geez!!" he squealed in fear. Annabeth pulled him close, digging into his soul with her glare.

"What's. My. Name." she growled.

"Annabeth. Right. Gotcha." Leo gulped. Annabeth set him down hard and stomped over to Percy, throwing his arm back over her shoulder. Leo quickly started moving forwards, not saying another word. Everyone else hi-fived Annabeth. Even Nico crisply hi-fived her. Meanwhile, Leo was murmuring under his breath

'Oh, look at me, I'm Annabeth. I'm smarter than everyone but too stiff nosed to have a sense of humor. *scoff*. Honestly, no taste."

As they walked, Micah could feel a difference. He felt 100% for the first time since his shoulder was torn open. He kept stretching his shoulders, feeling how good it felt to not have poison running through him. Reyna was talking with Piper and Hazel, Jason and Percy were discussing battle tactics, Nico was chatting with Frank over some undead story. Micah was at the back, silently thinking. Suddenly, Annabeth tapped his shoulder.

"Hey." she started.

"Hey."

"Thinking?" She asked. He smiled a little and nodded. He still reminded her so much of Luke that she wanted to cry, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued.

"Yeah, I do that alot. I could tell from a mile away." She chuckled. For a few moments, there was a calm silence between them.

"So, How did you do it?" she asked, breaking the calm. He looked at her confusedly.

"When we were...training. How did you calculate your speed so quickly?" she slowly asked, realizing the answer as she spoke. She looked at him in disbelief.

"No…." she questioned. Micah chuckled and nodded.

"My brain works just as fast as my body, yeah." he affirmed.

"But that means your smarter than me!" she said in shock. Micah shrugged.

"I guess so, yeah." he answered. Before she could respond, Leo stopped. He turned and, gave his best impersonation of an elevator

"You have arrived at your destination. Please watch your step, and thank you for choosing Creeps-U-Out Inc" he shuddered. They were standing in front of a giant, 20 foot tall set of double doors. Frank stepped up, cracked his knuckles, and ran shoulder-first into the door, a scraping sound screeching through the cavern. After he had opened it far enough, he briskly waved them into the next room, Hazel kissing him on the cheek. They entered a musty room that smelled like it hadn't received air in eons. It was very large, almost 5 football fields long and just as wide. The ceiling couldn't even be seen. There were books and scrolls on shelves lining the room. They walked in slowly, Micah's 'freakin creepy'-o-meter going off full blast. Other than the literature, there was nothing else there. They looked around for a while, Annabeth like a kid in a candy store, grabbing books and stuffing them into her bookbag… and Percy's bag… and Leo's bag as penance. Micah looked around, feeling an odd sensation run down his spine. The shadows seemed… off. He shook of the feeling until he saw it. At the very back of the 'library', something was glowing a faint purple glow. He slowly started walking towards it. Reyna saw him and jogged over.

"I know that face, Lyte." she sighed, trying not to smile but failing

"What do you mean? What face?" he asked. She rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"The 'I'm gonna go do something stupid' look" she explained, cocking her eyebrow and daring him to argue. He shrugged and pointed.

"You see that glowing over there?" he asked. She peered into the dark, looking hard for what he was talking about.

"Um, nope. I think you're going nuts, personally." she cracked at him. He got right behind her, stooping down and almost setting his head on her shoulder. He reached around her and gently grabbed her chin. Reyna's whole body went limp, her face exploding with crimson as he slowly guided her eyes until she was looking right at the glowing object.

"See it now?" his breath breezed over her neck lightly, sending a shiver down her spine. She was honestly too flustered to actually comprehend what she was looking at, until she blinked twice and focused. In the distance, she saw a faint glowing.

"I see it." she whispered. He lightly let go of her chin, smiling.

"Now who's crazy, Tomato Face?" Micah kid. Reyna's face grew an even darker shade of red, but Micah ignored her, simply picking her up bridal style.

"Hold on tight." he whispered, then took off, the 2 of them almost instantly appearing at the other end of the room, now much closer to the bright light. Micah gently set a stunned Reyna down, and walked over to the object, Reyna quickly followed, and they both laid eyes on the glowing item. It looked like a black, misshapen, jagged pyramid. He reached out to grab it, when everyone heard a booming voice.

"So you finally came. Excellent. I've been waiting for you and your friends, Lyte." a deep and evil voice rang. They looked around but saw nothing.

"And I'm afraid that if you want the piece of the cube…." the voice continued. Every shadow in the entire cave seemed to pull together, taking on form, growing taller and wider until it stood up. The creature was easily as tall as the Titans, but gave off a more… primal aura. It honestlt looked like a messy mass of human-shaped shadows. It was wearing ancient armor none of them recognized, and carrying a giant broadsword that looked like it was made of pure darkness. Its empty eyes picked them apart. It smiled, its mouth forming jagged, tooth-like structures around the edge of its mouth.

"You're going to have to pry it from my cold, dead hands." it finished.

"Mother!" Leo squeaked like a kid on helium.


	31. Chapter 31: Shadowboxing

"Whoa….kay. What am I looking at?" Frank squealed, a little less manly than he would have liked.

"I am Apochros, Leviathan Ruler of Shadows, Harbinger of Souls from time immemorial." Apochros boomed. The Demigods all looked at one another confusedly, but were quickly interrupted by the beast swinging its massive sword at them with blinding speed. They dodged either to the left or right, each drawing their weapon. Micah was the first to charge, speeding at the thing. It merely swung, sending Micah skidding across the stone floor and into the cave wall. Jason shot a bolt of electricity straight into its chest. The bolt bounced off, exploding on a nearby rock. They all attacked, swinging blades and shooting projectiles. But the creature seemed to be impervious to all of their attack, as each seemed to just bounce off of it harmlessly. Nevertheless, they kept attacking. Reyna lashed out at its feet, wrapping her Urumi blade around one of its massive feet. It yanked her in and sent her vaulting across the room, into the ever-waiting arms of Micah, who was more plowed to the ground then catching heroically. Nico stood with a frustrated look on his face.

"Guys, I…. I can't shadow travel! This thing must be blocking me off somehow!" he raged.

Jason shot bolt after bolt at it, to no avail. It thrust out its hand at him angrily, and he was engulfed in shadows.

"JASON!!!" Piper screamed. She ran over to find him wrapped in a cocoon made of shadows. Frank transformed into a dragon, roaring angrily at Apochros. He lashed out at him with his claws, then swung his tree-trunk tail at him. Apochros caught him, and threw him out of the way. Annabeth ran up and, Hazel providing a much-needed boost, attempted in vain to drive her dagger through him. She seemed to hit nothing, flying straight through him, collapsing onto the rocky ground on the other side. Micah ran over to the monster, slashing into him so fast he became a blur. Each attack just bounced off, until it finally caught him in its hand.

"My master told me you'd be a challenge… he told me not to underestimate you." its deep bass voice rumbled. It began crushing Micah, who was yelling out in pain.

"Huh. Some challenge you turned out to be." it scoffed. It kept squeezing and squeezing him, until Micah thought for sure he was going to splat, when suddenly the beast cried out in agony and let go. Behind him stood Leo, his hand still ignited in flame.

'Hang on... fire effects it?... or maybe.." Micah instantly understood.

"Leo…. It's made of shadows… light must make it solid. You have to…. Hit it with fire so we can shred him with our blades!!!" he yelled loud enough for everyone to hear. They all nodded in understanding. Leo bathed the Leviathan in flames, while the rest resumed their attack. Hazel swung her massive spatha 2-handed into its leg, creating a massive gash. They finally drew blood. Nico dramatically unsheathed his wicked Stygian Iron sword, charging the creatures blind spot and going to town on its legs. Percy gathered the moisture in the cavern into a massive pillar, which he plowed into its chest with the force of a locomotive. Micah ran in, slicing its feet to pieces and bringing it to its knees, and Frank swung his dragon tail directly into the back of its head. Leo lit the creature up with one hand, then stretched the other towards Jason, sending a single spark onto his cocoon, which immediately evaporated. While Piper took care of Jason, the rest started ripping into the breast. After a few mkments, Jason stood up shakily.

"I... I'm fine, Piper. We gotta take this thing out." He said, charging into battle next to Leo, who was looking a bit clammy.

"Hey, bud; need some help?" Jason smirked, shooting bolts yet again. This time, they could see the effects, as the creature staggered about

Reyna was whipping all over the thing, leaving gashed and lacerations all over its body. Percy used the water to create shackled around its hands, As they all kept slashing and hacking until they became so tired they all had to step back and regroup. Leo was starting to look seriously tired, sweat pouring down his face. The creature glared at them, tilting its head slightly and spitting out blood. Jason looked just as tired as Leo, but they both continued their assult. Annabeth ran over to one kf the bookshelves and, along with Percy, tipped it over, sending a rain of books all over the creature. Frank was notching arrow after arrow like a machine, hitting specific pressure points with amazing accuracy, while Micah, Reyna, and Hazel were tearing its legs up.

"FRANK! LETS DO THIS!" Hazel yelled, Frank seeming to get the message. Hazel slashed once, twice, then threw her spatha up into the air, it twirling in perfect circles. Frank had shot 2 more arrows, than ran over and leapt into the air, catching the handle of the sword with 2 hands, and slashing a huge gash across its shoulder and chest. For a moment, all the fighting stopped, and all that could be heard was the creature's raspy breathing. It turned its head and spit out what seemed to be a tooth.

"Is that it….is that the best you got?" it taunted. Jason, who looked more drained than ever, managed to shoot a bolt at the ceiling over its head, which shattered on it. Though the rock didn't seem to do much to affect it, they noticed a small beam of sunlight, which landed on its shoulder. The area the light his instantly started to bubble.

'"AAAAAAARGH!!" Apochros cried. They all understood. Frank flew up and smashed into the ceiling, causing it to crumble and fall down into the cavern. Percy willed the water in the damp, moist air to become a shield over the group, pieces of rock bouncing off of it. The creature started to literally boil before their very eyes. It slowly started disintegrating away, until it fell to its knees. It reached out towards Percy, but was stopped cold by a fireball smashing into its head.

"HEY UGLY!'" Leo called confidently as he strode over to it.

"When your sorry butt gets back to Tartarus," he taunted, pulling a flaming mallet out of his toolbelt.

"Tell 'em Leo Valdez sent ya." he finished cooly, home-running the creatures head, which popped like the world's most disgusting piñata. Monster dust flew everywhere. It was done. Apochros was dead. Everyone stared in disbelief, before running over to Leo, either hugging him or rustling his hair.

"Guys, guys! I know I'm great, you ain't gotta convince me!" he joked. Micah suddenly seemed to remember that they had come here for a specific reason. He slowly made his way over to the pedestal on which the misshapen pyramid lay. He reached out, suddenly stopping before he touched it. He steeled his sudden nerves, and picked it up. He could instantly feel the power irradiating off of he artifact. It seemed to be pulsing a vibrant purple color. They all gathered around as he lifted it into the air. Just as the thing was clear of its resting place, the pedestal made a light clicking sound. They all looked at it curiously, only to see the flat-top had popped open. Inside was a folded up piece of paper. Micah slowly reached in and picked it up, opening it and reading its contents, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"What is it, Mike?" Reyna asked after a few moments. He looked up, eyebrow raised in surprise.

"It's our next clew." he responded surprisedly.


	32. Chapter 32: Nightime Visitor

"Another clew?" Leo sighed.

"Makes sense," Frank shrugged. "I mean, this… artifact...thing… looks like it's just a piece of the whole." Leo just shook his head, chuckling in annoyance.

"Greeeeat. This keeps getting better and better. I'm gonna go call Cally. She's probably worried sick." He said as he walked off. They had just made it out of the caverns, Micah and Percy carrying Annabeth's book bags full of books as she absorbed the information in wonder.

"Whoa, guys!! Some of these manuscripts date way back to early Roman times!! It's incredible!!" She explained. Percy couldn't help but smile, and Micah caught on real quick.

"So, she's the one, huh PJ?" He asked, nudging his shoulder. Percy's smile widened.

"Oh yeah, bro. My one and only." He responded happily. Percy's grin seemed to be contagious, as Micah found himself smiling too.

"Hey, man, that's great. She seems perfect for you. The ying to your yang." Micah congratulated. Percy nodded, then cocked an eyebrow at him.

"And what about you, Speedy, you… ya know… got your eye on anyone?" Percy said, giving Reyna a look, the winking at Micah. Micah chuckled, shaking his head.

"It's not what you think, Percy." he tried in vain to explain.

"Tell that to her phone's home screen." Percy countered. Micah sighed and laughed.

"Look, Pers, she's a wonderful girl. I mean, she's tough as sandpaper in some ways, but in others she's sweet, compassionate… she really cares about her family. She's supported me more than anyone else I've ever known." Micah said genuinely. Percy looked behind them to see Annabeth deep in a book, then leaned real close to Micah.

"Plus she's H to the OT!" Percy added, barely whispering. Both of them full out laughed.

"So… what dude? She obviously likes you, and you'd have to be blind not to like her... so…." Percy prodded. Micah just looked off towards the setting sun, placing a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"The people I love… it never ends well for them. She's my best friend, no doubt. But past that… would just be putting her in harm's way. I couldn't live with myself knowing I'm the one who got her hurt." he explained. By then, they had reached the van, still parked right where they had left it. Leo was just getting off of the phone, and the boys heard the end of his call.

"Yeah….. yeah I love you to, babe. Of course I'll…. I'll be safe. Yeah. Yes, I love you. What? No I'm not gonna…. But baby… the guys are….*sighs*... ok. Alright!!!…." Leo rolled his eyes and, his cheeks turning red, kissed the receiver quickly. All of the guys, including Nico, gathered around him.

"AWWWWW!!!" Percy and Jason cooed in unison

"Isn't that sweet!!" Frank prodded

"So adorable!!" Micah joked, giving Leo a proper noogie

"I didn't know you were such a softy." Nico toyed ornerily.

"Oh, haha, very funny! Well mark my words, as Reed Alexander said, you shall all rue the day you messed with Leo Valdez!! RUE IT!!!" Leo squealed. The guys all looked at eachother blankly.

"Oh Noooo!!!" They all mocked. They climbed into the car, the boys hi-fiving, the girls snickering, and Leo pouting.

"Ok, guys. Let's figure out where to next." Hazel said. They all nodded, Micah opening the old papyrus paper, and read aloud:

CLEW #2

'Go to the Minoan Gate

Where key of water sealed their fate

Find the keyhole in the east

To find a piece, defeat the beast.'

Everyone turned and looked at Annabeth, who just peered over her book.

"What?? Why do you always look at me for the answers?" she asked. She scowled at Micah.

"Ask HIM. HE seems to be the brains around here." she added bitterly. Micah just rolled his eyes.

"Stop being a pouty baby just because you've finally found someone smarter than you." he chided. She simply humphed and closed her book.

"Well, If I had to guess, I'd start looking near the ruins of the Minoan Temple. I mean, the Minoan Gate? That's got to be there somewhere."

"Yeah, but… the key of water?" Nico asked.

"Could mean they were flooded out." Leo supplied. Frank snapped his fingers.

"Hey, Reyna. Isn't there an old legend that a son of Neptune destroyed a temple because the priestess wouldn't marry him?" Frank asked. Reyna nodded excitedly.

"Yeah, Zakros Temple. But we need the Minoan Temple..."

"Different names for the same place." Micah said before Annabeth could.

"I bet you that's where we'll find our next piece!" she exclaimed.

"That is IF we defeat the beast…" Piper added. Jason gently pulled her into an embrace.

"Oh, come on, babe. Don't be such a downer." He plead, kissing her cheek lightly. She couldn't help but smile, and Leo turned to Argus in the front seat.

"Aight, bro. Zakros Temple it is." he said, dramatically leaning back and putting on his aviators. Reyna sat in the back, looking out the window, when suddenly her phone rang.

"Hey, buddy. You ok?" Reyna asked.

"I'm ok, Sissy, I was just worried about you." Raphael's voice came through shyly. Reyna smiled.

"I'm fine, Raphy. We're on the road."

"Have you guys done anything awesome yet?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, I mean, we've done a few things. But, you wouldn't want me to bore you with our little stories…" she said playfully.

"Oh please tell me, Sissy!!! Pleasepleaseplease!!!!" he begged, causing her to laugh.

"Ok, ok. Calm down, dude. Let's see… well, I guess it started with us climbing Mount Olympus…" she began, telling him of their journeys so far. Every time Reyna would mention someone's name, they would holler at him. When she got to the part where Micah raced Mercury, she could hear him gasp. When she finished, she let it all sink in for a moment.

"Hey, Raphy, We both know it's time for you to head to bed, little man." Reyna instructed. Raphael sighed sadly.

"I wish you were here, Sissy… I miss your bedtime hugs." he whispered. Micah abruptly took the phone out of a protesting Reyna's hand.

"Hey, Big guy. How's it hangin?" he greeted.

"Micah!! You raced Mercury, that's so cool!!" Raphael exasperated. Micah chuckled.

"I guess so. Hey, what's this I hear about you wishing you could get a hug?" Micah asked.

"Well, uh.. when Sissy is here, she usually gives me a hug and tucks me in before bed…. I guess I just miss her." he said.

"Hey bud, if you want a hug, I can make that happen." Micah informed.

"Yeah!! But how?" Raphael asked.

"Wait outside of you door, buddy." he whispered, then hung up and handed Reyna her phone. He opened the van door and vanished, reappearing in the literal blink of an eye, A very shocked looking Raphael sitting between him and Reyna. Raphael looked over at Reyna in confusion, his face instantly lighting up.

"SISSY!!" He cried, leaping into her arms. She laughed and hugged him, slowly swaying back and forth. He sat back on her lap, smiling.

"We went SO fast, Sissy, it was amazing!!" he cries, then hugged her again. Then, he suddenly jumped onto an unsuspecting Micah, knocking the wind out of him. Micah was about to say something, when Raphael hugged him too.

"Thank you, Micah." he whispered. Micah hugged him back, closing his eyes as Raphael rested his head on Micah's shoulder.

"Anytime, bud." he responded. After a few minutes, Micah could hear his breathing even out. He heard a click, and looked over at Reyna. Then, he opened the door and was back instantly.

"He's in bed, sound asleep." Micah informed. Then, in front of everyone, Reyna leaned over and kissed his cheek gently.

"Thank you, Mike. That meant the world to him." she explained. Micah simply nodded and, ignoring the ornery grin from Percy, leaned onto the window to try to get some sleep. After a while, he felt Reyna lean over onto his shoulder, and this time, he wrapped his arm around her, and slowly and happily drifted to sleep, his last thoughts being,

'Man, I have the best family ever.'


	33. Chapter 33: Photographic Memories

The group drove straight through the night, making decent time. Micah woke up in the middle of the night, rubbing his eyes at the light of an Iphone next to him. Reyna was sitting cross-legged, scrolling through her pictures. There were a few of her and the 7, and quite a few of her and Raphael. Micah took a moment to actually look at her. She was wearing blue jeans and a red short sleeve shirt that read 'I saw that - Karma'. She had her hair in a ponytail and was staring intently at her tiny screen. If you didn't know her, you could easily think she was just an average high-school or college student. She looked over to him suddenly.

"Oh, hey. Did I wake you up?" she asked.

"No, no, I was already up, Rey." Micah responded. Then, something struck him.

"Did you...change?"he questioned. Her face lit up a bright red.

"I… well, I mean… I climbed into the back and, yeah…" she finally answered. Micah sat there for a minute.

"Good idea. I'll be right back." he said, climbing into the very back of the van and getting out a fresh change of clothes. He pulled on some new jeans, then somersaulted over the seat next to her, holding his shirt. Reyna couldn't help but blush when she noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. Micah smiled.

"I can't help but notice you noticing me noticing you noticing me." Micah said slyly.

"No, I um…. What? No I was just… I wasn't" she stuttered. Inwardly, she cursed herself.

'Stop it, Reyna! You are a strong single Roman woman. Gods, get it together, girl!' she mentally chastised herself. She shook her head, then averted her focus back to her phone. She kept scrolling through her photos, until she landed on her most recent: Micah holding little Raphael in a warm embrace. She couldn't help but smile as she noticed the grin plastered on Raph's face. He looked so happy.

"ReyRey, watcha lookin at?" Micah asked, causing her to roll her eyes.

'No matter if they are camp-grown or self raised, boys are all the same.' she mentally noted.

"Nothing, Nitro Breath." she said almost inaudibly. Micah's eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"What did you just call me?" he asked as though to confirm his ears were still working. Reyna smiled deviously.

"Nitro. Breath. I didn't stutter." she affirmed in her classic bossy-Roman praetor voice. He slid his arm over the seat behind her, his face unreadable. Her leaned in close, a devilish look growing on his face.

"Now that's not very nice. Kinda cute, but not very nice." he breathed. She felt her heart speed up when his warm breath tantalized her neck. Then, just as soon as he came over, he slid back to his side of the seat. Reyna knew her face must have been flushed, because Micah laughed quietly.

"Oh, and Rey: my breath doesn't smell anything like Nitro." he finished. A lingering silence filled the air.

"...can I see them now?" he asked.

"Nope." she quickly replied. He chuckled softly, then pulled out his own phone, and started lazily scrolling through his photos. They sat shoulder to shoulder, when Reyna couldn't help it any more, and glanced at Micah's phone.

"Hypocrisy." He smirked, then held his phone out in front of her.

"I took this one from Venice, Italy." Micah explained. It was a picture of him and the Grand Canal.

"Why were you in Venice?" she asked.

"I was hired to find the lost Head of the Nike of Samothrace. Tracked it down to an ancient underground cavern in Italy." he explained. He went to the next picture, one of him in pretty bad shape, holding up a worn down, seaweed covered marble head. They continued going through his photos, until they came to the last one. Micah paused for a moment, before reaching around Reyna and scooting her closer unexpectedly, causing her to squeal a little bit. Micah held out his phone, and snapped a selfie of them both.

"What was that about!?!" Reyna demanded. Micah shrugged, still smiling. In the photo, they were both laughing at the squeak she had just made, and both looked perfectly and blissfully happy. Micah set that picture as his home and lock screen photo. Reyna couldn't stop blushing.

"People are gonna get the wrong idea when they see that." she said in her bossy praetor voice. Micah shrugged.

"I think they'll get exactly what this is." he replied. She gulped.

'...does he think… are we?' she panicked.

"I think people are gonna see me and my best friend being happy."

"Oh… yeah. Right." Reyna said lightly, but inside she couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness.

'You shut up. Right. Now.' she commanded her brain.

'You're fine. I mean, come on, Reyna, you knew you were just friends… there's no way he likes you like… like that. He's your friend, probably your best friend. But that's it. You have GOT to get over this!' As she was mentally checking herself, she couldn't help but notice one picture Micah breezed over especially quickly. It was of him holding a beautiful strawberry blonde girl bridal-style, both of them absolutely dying laughing. She had deep blue eyes, and looked so completely happy. Micah himself looked quite a few years younger, and just as elated.

"Hey, who was that?" she asked without thinking. His smile instantly evaporated into a tiny, sad, reminiscent grin.

"That was… Marie." he whispered.

"Girlfriend?" Reyna asked sincerely.

"She was."

"What happened?" she asked. He was silent for quite a while, until he finally took in a shaky breath and answered.

"She... she's gone." he said, his composure obviously failing.

"Oh, I'm… I'm so sorry, Micah." Reyna apologized. Micah looked up at her, smiling slightly.

"It's fine, Rey. You didn't know." he forgave. Silence. Reyna stole a glance over at Micah. Of course he was asleep again already, slumped over onto his seatbelt. Reyna couldn't help but chuckle. Then, she saw the picture one his phone. This one was of him and Marie sharing a beautiful, perfect kiss, Micah holding out his phone and winking at it playfully as they did. Reyna had never seen him that happy since she me him. She felt an odd sensation forming in her gut.

'I wish I could make him that happy' deep, inner, emotional Reyn thought helplessly

'We've been over this, Reyna, we are NOT going there!! No!!' calloused, praetor, Roman-minded, tough-as-nails Reyna fought back. Almost as if in response, Micah instinctively reached over and pulled her closer, smirking in his sleep as he did. Reyna let herself rest her head in the crook of his neck, breathing in his smell of leather, cologne, and aftershave.

'This is gonna be harder than I thought.' she inwardly grumbled, A few seats up, Percy was peering over the seat, watching the whole ordeal, a huge smile on his face.

"Sweed Brain…." Annabeth grumbled almost incoherently. He looked down and saw her eyes fluttering, and man, he was speechless. He had the power to rattle the very earth, and yet it was no match for the effortless charm of this beautiful daughter of wisdom.

"Sup, beautiful?" he whispered back.

"You are…. The most amazing boyfriend… ever" she slurred quietly, obviously intoxicated with sleep. Her face instantly changed to a pouty face.

"I want my Percy snuggles." she said, arms open. He laughed and collapsed next to her on the seat, picking her up and sliding behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

"Better, Bookworm?" he whispered in her ear. She sighed contently, quickly kissing his lips.

"Perfect." she affirmed. She finally calculated what she had just seen.

"Percy, were you spying on Reyna and Micah?" she asked groggily.

"Maybe a little. He just seems so happy with her, Beth, and she is so much more happy with him. And she is obviously head over heels for him." Percy explained. Annabeth cocked an eyebrow playfully.

"Oh, so you're some kind of relationship expert?" She joked. Percy scoffed.

"Girl, when it comes to relationships, Persassy holds a Ph.D!" he exclaimed quietly, snapping his fingers in said sassy fashion. Persassy always got Annabeth to laugh. She kissed his nose lightly.

"Annabeth needs her sleep now, Persassy." she commanded, rolling into his chest and enjoying his smell.

"They will be together. I'll call this one 'Operation Miceyna... MicahReyna? HEEEEY MICAHREYNA' He whisper sang the lyrics to the Macarena.

"And Professor Persassy always wins. Always..." he whispered quietly, closing his eyes. A few minutes later, he and Annabeth were sound asleep. The van fell silent once again, each passenger sleeping contently in the arms of their significant other, Nico reclined in the front seat, and Leo falling asleep his phone in his hands, his final text telling Calypso how much he loved her, none of them aware they grew ever nearer the impending apocalypse.


	34. Chapter 34: The Truth Illuminated

Reyna woke up that night…. Yet again. Ugh. She sat up, realizing all too soon that she had fallen asleep on Micah's shoulder… again.

'This needs to stop. Now.' she commanded herself.

' Boys just bring trouble. He's no different. He's just some little girl's crush. Gods, I'm acting like a child. I don't need a boyfriend. I've been happily single 18 years now, no need to blotch my perfect track record. Geez, get your crap together!!' she chided herself. She had made up her mind…

'... but he's super cute. And kind, and funny, and caring. He's let me see him at his weakest, and confided in me.' her soft side argued. She felt an odd tugging in her stomach that she hadn't ever felt before. It felt like someone was tickling her… but on the inside.

'Cut the BS Reyna! You don't love him!' stubborn Reyna battled vociferously. She stole a glance at his peacefully sleeping form.

'...do you??' she gulped at the prospect. As a friend, of course she loved him. She would even go so far as to say she loved him as a best friend. But…. Love him, like, romantically? She couldn't… could she? She shook her head in frustration. She couldn't understand these feelings.

'Ok, so that's a lie. I just don't understand why I feel this way about HIM. I've only known him for, like, what… a month? This is getting ridiculous. I cannot let this keep eating me alive, I've got to deal with this. I'm a Roman. We have hearts of steel, and souls of titanium. I don't need a crush, I don't need a boyfriend. I'm perfectly fine with being his best friend. Right? Right.'

Just then, he started mumbling. Reyna looked over to see his face contorting in a mixture of confusion and pain, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. She shook him gently.

"Hey… hey Mikey, wake up." she whispered kindly. He sat up on his elbows, looking around confusedly, until his dark grey eyes locked onto her.

"Oh, hey. 'Morning." he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He yawned and sat up.

"Its like 2:00am...Bad dreams?" she asked. He nodded slowly.

"Was it about your mom?" Reyna prodded further. He looked over at her in shock.

"How did you…" he started.

"You were mumbling in your sleep. You said something about your mom, and how it couldn't be true." she explained. He rested his head in his hands, sighing.

"Its… its complicated, Rey." he explained. She looked at him quizzically.

"When we were at Mount Olympus, Mercury told us that same thing… he said you'd tell us when you were ready… is it something about your mom?" she asked so quietly and genuinely that Micah just sighed sadly. He couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"I can see this is hurting you, Mike. And… and it hurts me when I see you hurting. I'm sorry I can't help you." she finished quietly. He turned to face her in shock, and took her hands in his, staring into her eyes.

"Don't you dare say you're sorry, Reyna. You've already helped me so much… probably more than you'll ever know. It's just… I..I don't want you to think any different of me." he ended barely above a whisper. She squeezed his hands lightly.

"Nothing you say or do will ever change the way I think of you, Mike. You're my best friend, and I only met you, like, a month ago. You can tell me anything." She finished confidently. He closed his eyes and looked away. Then, something amazing happened. She can only describe it as timelessness, because she suddenly… appeared next to Micah on a park bench, the sun barely peeking above some city's skyline as it sunk.

"Whoa. Where…." she started.

"Tokyo, Japan. One of my favorite thinking spots." Micah informed. Then he sighed, running his hands through his messy light brown locks.

"Reyna, what I'm about to tell you… it's gonna be a lot to take in. You… you may not be able to fully understand, believe me, I don't even pretend to. Just… just promise me you'll try not to freak out, ok?" he cautioned her. Reyna instantly felt her heart beating faster. This must be huge. She reached over and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"I promise." she swore. He smiled slightly, then swallowed hard.

"After my mother… vanished… after I was told by the harpy that it had hired some monster to take her away… I was a wreck. I was running from scores of monsters and demons. All of them were looking for the fabled Light, and all of them knew I was somehow connected. I kept running, always one step ahead, always careful...until I save you and your sister. Something changed in me that day, some… dark instinct arose from the very depth of my soul. I knew exactly what I wanted: vengeance. It was in that alley, bleeding out, that I realized my mother's killer was still out there somewhere. Someone out there knew what had happened to my mom, who that crazy old witch that tried to kill me had hired to… make my mom disappear. Rage flowed through my veins as I died, and I remember closing my eyes thinking I'd never know. Then, the strangest thing happened: I woke up. I was on a table, in a hospital gown, with some doctor staring at me in awe. I sat up, recalling all that anger and hate I had harbored, and knew exactly what I had to do. I was done running. I had just been given a rare second chance at life, and I wasn't going to waste it. I decided that the only way to find out the truth about my mother was to run towards danger, work my way through the monsters until I could find someone willing to give me the truth. So I did. I became an assassin; A monster bounty hunter for hire, taking down any beast for the right price. I even had my own custom made hybrid Stygian Iron sword, but I lost it in a bet…. A story for another time. Needless to say, even at the age of 11, I was feared the world over for my monster-slaying skills. But no one knew my true agenda: find out just what truly happened to my mother. I never expected what I found. For 2 whole years I searched, inching ever closer to the truth. Then, one day I'm at a ship port in Mexico, waiting on my next client who was having problems with a Manticore, he showed up. Mercury. At first, I thought he was my father, what with our similar appearance. He told me I was his son, but that he was not my father. He… he told me I needed to stop looking for my mother, that she was gone. When I asked him why, he… he told me the truth." Micah paused, and snuck a glance up at a transfixed Reyna.

"He told me that thousands of years ago, when Olympus was being built, that they found something hidden deep within the ancient mountain: a sphere. They were all baffled by its radiating power, and kept it in their palace for safe-keeping. For thousands of years, it lay dormant. Then, 18 years ago, a voice spoke from within. He told me it instructed the Olympians to each bless the orb, and that it would use their combined essence to create their savior. It told them a dark force was awakening, and that their only chance was to listen and trust it. So they did. They each blessed the orb with a portion of their power. But, the orb instructed them to dedicate the savior to one of the Olympians, so it could take form. Apparently, Mercury had just found out that his son would end up killing himself to stop some Titan, so to console him the Olympians decided to dedicate their creation to Mercury." Micah said painfully. Reyna was confused, until suddenly it clicked. She looked at him in shock.

"You… you're their creation. You're the orb." she whispered, astonished. He winced and clenched his fist.

"My… my mom wasn't real… she was just a nymph sent to portray her, and to keep me out of harm's way until I was needed. I have no mother… no father. I was created, Reyna, not born. I'm… I'm nothing but a freak. I spent years trying to find out where my mother was… and what had happened to her… only to find out… I'm a monster … just like the ones I hunted." Micah finished, wiping away tears with the palm of his hand before they could fall. Reyna felt her eyes getting moist as well. Micah stood up, facing away from her with his head downcast.

"Now you know the truth, Rey." he said shakily. Reyna couldn't take it anymore. She pushed Roman Reyna deep down and turned Micah around, hugging him like her life depended on it.

"Oh, Mikey … you're not a monster… you're not…" she soothed, rocking him back and forth. She felt his body tremble as he cried, years of pain and anguish being released. Reyna couldn't help but cry too, as she saw his facade crumble, revealing a broken boy who felt like a monster. After a while, he stopped, his eyes bloodshot. He took in a shaky breath, running his hand through his hair.

"You're the only one who knows, Rey." he whispered. She impulsively reached out and took his hand.

"I'll keep it that way." she vowed. Then, Micah did something unexpected. He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek, sending Reyna's cheeks up in flames.

"Thank you for being such a good friend, Rey." he whispered.

"No.. no probs." she stuttered, still getting over the butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't help but squeal a little as he picked her up bridal style, smirking like a little boy.

"Come on, Warrior Princess, let's get back to the van." he chuckled. Just as quickly as they left, they suddenly reappeared into the van. Micah laid down onto the seat, then ornerily smirked up at Reyna, patting the seat next to him. She rolled her eyes, then laid down next to him.

"What? Your conditioner's smell helps me sleep." Micah shrugged innocently. He rested his chin gently on her head, breathing in deeply.

"Goodnight, Reyna… and thank you." he whispered genuinely. That night, Reyna fell asleep in the arms of her best friend.

'Reyna… we talked about this!' Roman Reyna screamed

'OH SHUT UP!!!' Soft Reyna snapped.

'You and I both know… there's no place we'd rather be.' she decided as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.


	35. Chapter 35: Ports and Imposters

Argus pulled the van to a stop next to a large yacht dock. Anchored to the shore were a bunch of different sized boats and yachts. The demigods piled out of the van, and Percy nodded to Argus, who simply tipped his cap, then drove off.

"Ok, well, we're going to need to get on one of these to get to the Zakros Temple." Percy stated as he examined each one. Nico vanished into the shadows, only to reappear holding 9 tickets in his hand.

"Well, only one of these ships sails for Zakros today." he handed them their tickets, apparently they were going on the S.S. Labellum. Annabeth couldn't help but laugh. He rest of the group looked at her funny.

"What's so funny, honey?" Percy questioned, smirking as well. Before Annabeth could even open her mouth to reply, Micah ornerily spoke up.

"Labellum…. Latin for 'sink'. She just finds it funny that we are literally sailing the S.S. Sinker… or so I assume." he finished, coughing to disguise a laugh as Annabeth glared at him with contempt.

"Stupid superspeed." she softly cursed, folding her arms.

"Yeah, well…. What he said." she said annoyedly.

"Oh, wow… now I really feel safe." Nico said grouchily. They all started heading towards the ship, when Micah stopped suddenly.

'BOO! Awww…. You didn't think you had gotten rid of me THAT easily, did you, Lyte?' The darkness suddenly asked.

'Why do you keep doing this to me?" Micah mentally questioned. The darkness laughed psychotically.

'Why? Because it's fun, Lyte. I like seeing you suffer. I like the carnage. It makes me happy.' it explained. Micah struggled against the feeling of insanity that grew within. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He was shot back into reality, only to see a concerned look on everyone's faces.

"You ok, Mike?" Frank questioned. Micah forced a smile.

"Yeah, sorry… I must have just… zoned out a little." he lied. Frank didn't seem to buy it for one second, but removed his hand anyways. They all continued walking until they reached their ship, a tiny ticket booth in front of the main plank which was lowered onto the dock. The man running the booth smiled kindly as they approached.

"Well hello there! Welcome to the S.S. Labellum! May I please have your tickets… ok… that's 9 of you? Excellent. Please, come aboard. Our deckhand will show you around. I do hope you enjoy your time at the temple!" Micah felt a familiar feeling grow in his gut. He turned to Percy, who seemed to pick up on his change in attitude.

"Stay on your toes, everyone. Something tells me it's no coincidence this was the only ship sailing to our destination." Micah explained. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I was wrong last time I doubted you. So enlighten me, Detective Speedy: What's so off about this place?" she quizzed. Micah took a defensive step towards her annoyedly.

"Well, for starters, there's not usually only one ship sailing to a specific place at a time, especially when it's a tourist attraction like this. There are only 3 hired hands on the whole ship, and one of them comes just to take OUR stuff. The ship's name is derived from a Latin basis, while the rest have names rooted in French and Spanish. And when we handed the man our tickets, he didn't tell us to enjoy our time on the island, he told us to enjoy our time at the temple. Last I checked, none of us mentioned going to the temple, so how'd he know?" Micah explained in a brief huff. Annabeth just stood there calculating everything he said, a look of amazement on her face.

"So I'll ask again: stay on guard, PLEASE." Micah said with mock pleading in his voice.

"I'm gonna re-case this boat. If I'm not back in 2 minutes, I've definitely been captured." he said quietly, then disappeared with a flash of purple light. They all looked around the giant ship, which was absolutely gorgeous. There were 2 separate decks, the upper deck containing the rooms in which they were staying, and the lower containing separate pools and a mini amphitheater. The deck floors were made of a smooth cherry wood, the outer walls white, and the hull a medium metallic grey with a single thick stripe running along the side. Micah came to a halt when he was about to round a corner. He looked around inconspicuously, trying to see if anyone was…

'gotcha.' Micah thought triumphantly. One of the workers was trying a little too hard to fit in. He was wearing a red polo shirt, khaki shorts, and converse. His all too big sunglasses unsuccessfully 'hid' his staring. When he saw he had been made, he bolted around the corner, pushing his way through the ever growing crowd. Micah quietly followed, not feeling comfortable using his abilities with so many bystanders if not absolutely necessary. But just as Micah rounded the corner, the man seemed to have… vanished. Micah looked around for quite some time, trying to find where that thing went. But he..it.. was long gone.

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Percy and the rest of the group couldn't just stand there and wait for Micah to return, so they decided to split up and search the boat for any monsters. Reyna was in the process of searching the second floor.

'Geez, this place is dusty… almost like no one has been down here for decades. Weird…' she thought. All around, cobwebs hung lazily from every crevice and corner. Old, faded paintings lined the hallway she walked through, an unnatural silence ringing as she slowly walked down the hallway. She peeked into a few musty rooms, finding all of the furniture covered in white sheets and a layer of dust. Suddenly, she thought she heard something. She whipped around, one hand on her necklace, to face whoever it was. Nothing. She continued her search, not even knowing exactly what it was she was looking for. She came to the end of the hallway, which split in 2 directions. She shrugged and veered left, continuing her search. She opened one door, and instantly knew she had found it. She came to a room full of antique keys; hanging on every spare space on the wall, in various display cases all around the room. But one in particular caught her eye. On the far wall of the room, encased in a glass case.She entered the room, and walked over. In the case, sat an 18th century-looking key. It was a deep blue, like the ocean's depth. She slowly opened the case, and was about to lift the key out, when she hesitated. She looked around, and found a similar looking key in size and design. She walked back over and, sliding the bronze key right behind the blue one, switched them out. She studied the key for a moment, then slipped it into a secret pocket in the bookbag. She turned to leave, heading back out the door, when she suddenly ran into…

"Hey, whoa! It's just… me." Micah said. Reyna looked at him confusedly.

"How did you find me down here?" she asked. Micah shrugged, clutching his hands behind his back.

"Oh, I… um… well… I guess I just got luck." Micah said nervously. Something felt… off. Reyna looked him up and down, her eyes suddenly stopping on his hand. No ring. She looked up at his neck. The Stygian Iron blade scar…. Gone. She backed away slowly, clutching her necklace.

"You're not Micah…" she said nervously. The thing chuckled, closing its eyes.

"Oh, so smart, aren't we? You're right," the thing said, opening its eyes, revealing bright red orbs.

"I'm not." it finished. It brought one of its hands from behind its back, revealing a gun. Reyna turned and ran, but before she could get far, she felt a bee sting in the right arm. She cried out in pain, reaching to feel a dart in her arm. Her vision started to spin as she stumbled and fell to the floor with a thud.


	36. Chapter 36: Book of Secrets

After almost an hour of searching the ship for any signs of suspicious activity, the group of demigods began to make their way back to the front of the boat. Percy was the first to arrive, followed by Annabeth, Frank, and Nico. Leo, Hazel, and Jason came a few minutes later. Micah was the last to arrive.

"I thought I said to stay put." Micah said emotionlessly. Percy scoffed.

"As if YOU'RE the boss." he laughed. Micah's face showed no emotion. He hadn't expected someone as powerful as Percy or Jason to take orders from anyone. If anything, he expected them to go out of their way to disobey orders. It was just second nature to them.

"So, did you find anything?" Micah questioned the group. They all shook their heads.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Seems to be just your average, run-of-the-mill cruise ship." Leo shrugged. Micah didn't share his optimism. He looked around suspiciously.

"Hey, has anyone seen Reyna?" Jason asked suddenly. They all looked around, for the first time noticing they were missing one of the group. Micah started to get that familiar sinking feeling in his gut. He took a step towards Percy.

"Where did you send her?" He asked. Percy took a step back.

"I didn't send her anywhere. She took off on her own. I have no idea where she is, Mike." Percy informed. As he spoke, he seemed to get a nasty thought.

"You...you don't think..." Percy didn't have time to even finish his sentence before Micah took off in a burst of speed, leaving them all behind in the dust. He zoomed through the entire ship in almost literally no time at all, before screeching to a halt in front of one peculiar door. It was made of a very solid dark oak, and looked far older than any other door on the entire ship. It was nestled away in a corner of the ship on the second floor, and sported a sign that read, 'CONDEMNED. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER.'. Micah took a closer look. There was a spot on the handle where some of the residual dust had been removed. Someone... or something... had opened that door. And by the looks of it, they had done it fairly recently. Micah cautiously lined his hand up with the dustless spot. It was definitely a hand, quite a bit smaller than his, most likely belonging to a female.

'Reyna.' he thought as he opened the door, a wave of stale musty air invading his nostrils. He as greeted by a long, curving hallway with quite a number of doors on either side. The whole area looked like something from a haunted ship attraction, not a top-of-the-line cruiser like this.

'Reyna, where are you?' Micah whispered to himself nervously.

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Reyna felt herself waking up, the effects of tranquilizer evident. She shook her head to clear herself of some of the gunk, then took in a deep breath and examined her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she had been restrained with handcuffs. No big surprise there. The second thing she noticed was that she was in a tiny room, tied to a metal folding chair, a light shining right in her eyes, assaulting her vision. The room was honestly more like a broom clothset, but instead of harboring cleaning supplies, this one held every kind of hand to hand weapon imaginable. Clubs, swords, knives, spears, and chainsaws were just a few of the plethora of weapons displayed all over the walls of the room. Reyna heard the one door into the room squeak open, and her captor walk in. In his natural form, he didn't seem to really have any features at all. He had all black eyes, tiny slits where his nose and ears should have been, a shiny, bald head, and pasty white skin.

"Well, look who finally decided to wake up. I do hope you enjoyed your little nap, hero." The creature taunted. Reyna instinctively struggled against her bonds to no avail. She hardened herself, and stared up at the creature with contempt.

"If your plan is to make me beg for mercy, you're gonna be sadly disappointed." she snarled. The creature's laugh echoed through the nearly-hollow room.

"Oh, that's quite alright, my dear," it reaffirmed. "It'll be just as fun torturing you either way." It promised. The beast sauntered over to one of the 3 weapon-filled walls, tapping its chin as it tried to decide which weapon would best suit its purposes.

"So, here's the deal," It began, finally settling on the ever-so-classic Louisville Slugger.

"One of your friends has something that my master wants... that I want. An item of great importance and power... well, a piece of it anyways. So you are going to tell me which one of them has it, and I'll let you live. You refuse, and... well... I'll be forced to knock out those pretty little teeth of yours." it finished, tossing the bat between its hands.

"I don't even have the slightest clue what you are talking about." Reyna said through a smirk. The creatures eye twitched in annoyance.

"The shard of the Kenos Cube. Tell me where it is!" The thing demanded. Reyna raised an eyebrow at him.

"What in Hades is a Kenos Cube?" Reyna asked. The creature looked like it was about to crack her across the face just for the fun of it, but instead let out a long sigh.

"You really have no idea what I am talking about, do you? You heroes today, so disappointing." It lamented. Reyna waited for the creature to continue.

"The Kenos Cube is an ancient object, older than recorded history. It was split into shards to keep its unimaginable power from falling into the wrong hands... my master's hands to be more precise." The monster smirked as Reynas face lit up in realization.

'The shard from the Philippeion...' she thought. She noticed the creatures smile, and instantly rehardened her facial expressions.

"How do you know so much about this... Kenos Cube?" she questioned. That seemed to touch a nerve. The creature reached into its tattered lab coat and pulled out a faded leather-bound book.

"I have devoted my life to studying the Cube for my master. For millennia, I have travelled the world over learning and recording all the information I could possibly find the Cube and its legends. It's my life!" The creature bellowed.

"My master promised me my freedom if I can retrieve the shards. So, either you tell me which one of your little friends has it now." The monster spat, obviously fed up with their little game,

"Or this room will be the last place you ever see." Silence filled the air for a few moments.

"I already told you, I have no idea what you are even talking about." She insisted. The creature's grip on its weapon tightened so much that it's knuckles turned even whiter than its albino skin.

"Fine, hero. Have it your way!" The creature roared. it pulled back, primed and ready to home-run Reyna's head. She flinched and looked away, waiting for the room to be repainted with her blood and teeth. She waited...and waited... but the hit never came. She chanced a glance, and her heart soared to life when she saw Micah standing right behind the monster, grabbing the bat from behind. Micah stared at the beast murderously.

"You... How did you?" The creature questioned. Micah grabbed the bat with both hands, and superspeed-threw the creature into the wall behind him. It smashed through the wall into the hallway. He briskly walked over to Reyna and, super-vibrating his hand, chopped straight through the cuffs, freeing her. He surprised her when he cupped her face in both of his hands, a look of pure fear evident in his pale, grey eyes.

"Are you ok, Reyna? Did he hurt you?" He questioned worriedly.

"I'm fine Micah... thanks to you." She assured. He buried her in a hug, letting out a sigh of relief. After a moment, he held her out at arms length, then took her hand.

"Come on, Rey. Lets get out of here." The 2 hurried out of the room. When they were in the hallway, Reyna let go of his hand, Micah looking at her with surprise.

"I'll be right back, Mikey. I have to get something." She explained as she charged back into the room. She quickly looked around until she found it: The faded journal. She picked it up and stuffed it into the front pocket of her hoodie, then ran back out into the hallway to find Micah still standing right where she left him, looking at her curiously. She grabbed his hand, and smirked.

"NOW can we go?" He asked, faking annoyance. She just gave him 'the look'. Micah put his other hand onto the back of her neck suddenly, causing her to yelp. He coughed, trying in vain to hide a snicker, then took off. The 2 of them appeared on the front deck, looking out over the ocean. Micah turned and looked Reyna right in the eyes. She could feel her heartbeat speeding up. The sun was starting to set over the ship.

"I'm so glad you're safe, Reyna." He sighed with relief. Her face started turning red.

"Stay right here. I'll be back in a second." He promised. He took off back down the stairs. The monster was still lying on a pile of drywall, obviously out cold. Micah picked him up and zoomed him over to one of the emergency lifeboats. The creature just started stirring as Micah stepped off the raft and was about to pull the release.

"You...you haven't seen the last of me. I will hunt you down and kill you." It muttered, still not yet fully recovered from being thrown through the wall. Micah chuckled softly.

"If I had a nickel for every time I was told that..." he began. Then he pulled the lever, sending the monster plummeting into the crashing waves of the ocean. Micah watched as its raft disappeared into the horizon. He reappeared next to Reyna.

"We should get back to the group. They're probably worried." Reyna whispered. Micah nodded, then raced her and himself back to the front of the ship. Percy and the rest of their friends were waiting.

"Where in Hades were you!?! We were worried sick!" Jason yelled in relief. Reyna laughed.

"Sorry, Jase. I was busy being kidnapped." She explained. His eyes got huge.

"Who kidnapped you?" Percy asked. Reyna shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. It was all worth it in the end." Reyna affirmed. They all looked at her like she was crazy. She reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out the tattered book.

"You're gonna want to see this." She promised. Just then, the captain announced they were about to depart. They found their way to their rooms. They looked like your standard hotel room, but a little more... oceany. After they had packed their things in their rooms, they gathered on the main deck food court. Reyna brought the journal, and the group of demigods huddled around as she nervously leafed through the first page.


	37. Chapter 37: A Branded Fate

_This journal is the personal property of Talpos the Morpher._

 _July AD 110_

 _The story of Kenos Cube goes back beyond recorded history. However, in my travels and through my studies, I have compiled all of the known story behind this object, and all connected to it. I have made monumental discoveries that will change the course of history as we know it. My master, the Primordial Father of All, sent me back to this pane of reality for a singular purpose: to seek out and retrieve for him the shards of the Kenos Cube. But, He told me nothing of its origin or importance, but , indeed, forbid me from further pursuing any information about it at all. I, of course, secretly disobeyed. This journal, my legacy, is the culmination of my forbidden efforts to uncover the truth. And, after millennia of search and study, I have found out many a secret,. However, there is one myth... one secret that rules them all: My master was not alone when the universe was created, nor did he create this existence by himself. Many know my master as a force of nature and nothing more, a mythical power deep below Tartarus, through whom the universe was created. He was even given a name, one which has been buried in myth: Chaos. The Primal being. According to history as you know it, Chaos is the force of nature from which the Primordials arose, from them the Titans, and from the Titans the Olympians. Chaos, however, is not at all a force of nature: he is a being of infinite power. He is a monstrous and ruthless tyrant, with nothing to gain and nothing to lose. He has no rhyme or reason for anything he does, except maybe the fact that he purposely looks for the most insane and destructive route possible. Chaos is where history ends. According to history, Chaos single-handedly created all the known realm. But I am here to write down and save for posterity that history is wrong. Chaos did not create the universe alone. There was another being, whose existence was somehow almost completely erased from all recorded history. Almost. Through my study, as well as deciphering of the symbols in some of our most ancient scrolls, I have been convinced that Chaos did not and indeed COULD not create the universe alone. There was another Primal being, of equal power and age as Chaos, who helped create all that we know and see today. Within these pages, between these covers, is the truth. After 10000 years of study far and wide, I have finally discovered what really happened. The second Primal deity is referred to literally once in all of recorded history, in a scroll I found buried deep in the heart of Pompeii. It was called Imperium. Imperium is the mother of the known universe, Chaos the father. Though there is no record of it, I can only assume and theorize that at some point in time, Chaos and Imperium had a massive clash, one which resulted in the death of Imperium and the imprisonment of Chaos somewhere beneath Tartarus. It is my belief that the Kenos Cube, as well as the Olympians' Sphere, are directly connected to Imperium herself. While examining the Lost Scroll of Pompeii, before it was stolen from me, I stumbled across a strange glyph. I found the same symbol on a piece of the Kenos Cube I once possessed. Somehow, Imperium created the Cube as well as the Sphere by implanting some of her own essence and power directly into them. Many questions still remain to be answered, that even I don't have the answers to. Perhaps no one ever will. However, I have heard rumor and gossip throughout the years since the Sphere was found by the Olympians that they were given a prophecy from time immemorial. Perhaps, through this rumored quest, the truth will be revealed. Only time will tell._

 **NOTE: Where could my master be imprisoned? It seems irrational that he could be imprisoned anywhere on this earth, so where? I will commit more time to this study in the future**

 _August AD 1992_

 _The rumors have been swirling for quite some time now, so I decided it was time I looked into them. And, much to my surprise and dismay, they were in fact true! The Ousia Sphere has indeed taken on some kind of... different... physical form. I do not pretend to know how the Olympians did it, but they somehow managed to cause the Sphere to morph its shape into something. But what? It could be anything from a charm bracelet to some kind of animal or weapon... anything. They must have had some help... but from whom? All I know for sure is that the Sphere must be found... Chaos forbid the mythical Guardian be resurrected._

 **NOTE: The Guardian... even the name evokes fear. This creature is shrouded in myth and legend. I am not even quite sure exactly WHAT it is... some say it was the first son of Chaos and Imperium... others say it was a Titan cursed to do the bidding of Chaos... still others say it is nothing but a myth. A story created to keep nosey beings from attempting to lay hold of the Sphere. In one sense, I can understand why people are so sceptical of its existence. For example, one legend claims the Guardian once wrestled with Chaos himself. Doubtful. All myths of this being simply... vanish after 130 AD, as if it just... vanished. Nevertheless if it does exist, I'd rather not have it as an enemy.**

 _January AD 2001_

 _A new piece has been added to the Game: The Light. This Light is apparently the only living creature that knows the location of the Sphere. How do I know? There is a specific power radiating from him... similar to the Sphere's own aura. Either he knows where the Sphere is, or he has it with him. Either way, it doesn't matter. It is only a matter of time before he is caught. And when he is, my master will have the Orb, and be one step closer to attaining his final goal._

 **NOTE: I have been studying the Orb and the Cube all of my life, and cannot help but wonder what my master plans to use them for when he has them both. Perhaps the destruction of this planet? I do not know. More study will come in the future.**

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Reyna read the tiny journals entries as the rest of the group sat in awe and fear.

"Oook... back it up!" Leo insisted. "Did this thing just mention... Chaos? Like, the endless void underneath Tartarus? THAT Chaos?!" he finished.

"Chaos isn't just a void. Apparently, He is an entity... a being." Annabeth explained.

"And evidently the very being we're trying to stop." Jason added.

"Wait... how do we even know that Chaos is against us?" Leo added hopefully. Frank just gave him the classic 'are-you-insane?' look.

"Well, I mean, what if Chaos is just this super nice immortal entity that just wants to... I don't know... find broken and betrayed heroes and rehabilitate them while giving them awesome and kind of irrational powers that somehow magically make the pain of their betrayal go away while simultaneously causing them to be god-level powerful?" Leo asked. The rest of the group just gave him the same look Frank was.

"Or something like that anyways." Leo finished.

"Um... His name is Chaos." Hazel said hesitantly.

"Yeah..." Leo replied ,unsure of what point she was trying to make.

"We literally call out-of-control and dangerous situations 'Chaotic' because of him. What about that name makes you think that this being would be even relatively friendly?" Nico explained. Leo just shrugged.

"Well, I think that the Orb he mentions is worth a look into. I mean, the Olympians have this thing in their palace for thousands of years, and then suddenly decide to change its shape and ship it to some unknown location? That seems a bit strange." Piper suggested. Some of the color suddenly drained out of Micah's face, and Reyna sat a little straighter in her chair.

"I think we should cross that bridge when we get to it. First things first, we need to find the pieces of this... Kenos Cube." She quickly suggested. The rest of the group voiced their agreements. Percy stood up and, with a lopsided grin, stretched and yawned.

"Well... I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm gonna go check out the snack bar." He explained, trying to ease the tension that had so suddenly befallen them. All the boys nodded in agreement, and stood to follow. Micah grabbed his head in pain as the voice returned

 ** _So, hero... guess the secret is out. Now you cannot plead ignorance. Bow in the presence of your master, boy._**

 _You... you're him. Chaos._

 ** _The creator of all. The bringer of destruction. Your friends had enough trouble with my children and my children's children. What hope do you have against me, Lyte?!_**

 _I don't care. I will fight besides my friends until the day I die_.

 ** _Very well, Lyte. But remember, your fate... is MINE!_**

Micah felt a slight burning on his arm, and looked over to see Frank, a worried look on his face.

"I'm ok. Just... need to use the bathroom." Micah explained as he rushed towards the men's room. When he got there, he quickly rolled up his sleeve, a look of horror on his face. On his left arm, length-wise down his wrist, was scared in the word 'Nekros'. Micah gulped and pulled down his sleeve. He knew exactly what Chaos had just done. Chaos had cursed him... with inevitable death.


	38. Chapter 38: The Unknown

The group travelled across the sea, ever approaching their destination. After 2 days of sailing, they finally reached a port off of the eastern coast of Crete.

"So... Zakros Temple. Where exactly..." Frank began as they stepped off of the ship and onto the harbor.

" 35.221403 Latitude, 26.215874 Longitude" Annabeth quickly said. Frank just chuckled.

"Right... that helps." Frank said sarcastically. He put his arm around Hazel's shoulder as they walked. Leo was busy texting away on his phone, updating Calypso on all that was going on. Percy was holding Annabeth's hand as she diligently read through a some of her notes on her phone with the other hand.

"Come on Jase, lets go! To the temple!" Piper commanded, suddenly hopping onto his back, causing him to grunt in surprise.

"Let's go, come on!" She giggled as he smiled and kept walking. Reyna laughed, seeing Piper kick her heels into Jason's sides to spurn him on. She ran ahead, claiming that Jason always was too slow, which of course caused him to run even faster. Micah rubbed his left wrist.

'Nekros... Death.' He thought to himself. 'How had Chaos even done this? How could anything just... carve something first onto my back, and now onto my wrist? What did this even mean? Am... am I destined to die some horrible death?' His thoughts were interrupted when they came to a bus stop. It looked just like another average bus stop, with a dirty, graffitied bench for waiting.

"Um... Annabeth... remember the last time we were on a public bus?" Percy asked apprehensively.

"Yeah. How could I forget?" She asked blankly. She was busy scanning the bench for something. Finally, she found it. Scrawled onto the bench in dirty, old writing, were a bunch of Greek letters.

"Καλώ το άρμα του θανάτου." Annabeth read aloud. At first nothing happened.

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" Leo questioned. Just as soon as he said that, A giant ghostly bus seemed to fly straight out of a nearby wall. It sped down the street towards them, coming to a screeching halt. Its air brakes hissed as they released all of the pent-up air. The doors flew open, and the demigods peaked in. The driver wasn't anything like you would expect a bus driver to look like. He was wearing a red-velvet pinstripe italian suit with matching pants. Percy and Annabeth knew exactly who he was.

"Charon... of course." Micah grunted. Charon's glared at Micah with equal distaste.

"Oh. Mr. Lyte. So, you've finally died, eh? About time." Charon stated. Micah rolled his eyes annoyedly.

"Yeah, it's great to see you again too, Charon; hate to burst your little bubble, but I'm not dead yet." Micah explained. Charon looked at the group, understanding entering his eyes.

"I see. You seek safe travel then?" He asked. They all nodded, but Charon simply grunted.

"Well, I hate to burst YOUR little bubble, but only the dead may ride the Chariot of..." He was interrupted by Annabeth slamming a ziploc bag full of drachma onto the toll slot. Charon picked the bag up skeptically, inspecting one of the coins. After a moment, he leaned in closely.

"And where might you be heading?" he asked quietly.

"Zakros Temple." She replied with equal quietness.

"Well, that happens to be exactly where out next scheduled stop is. I guess I could be generous and allow you to join." He said so that all could hear. Not that anyone on the bus cared, it was just... well... he had an image to uphold after all. Annabeth nodded her thanks as she and the rest of the demigods piled onto the bus. The door creaked shut, and the shuttle jerked then slowly began to lumber down the road. They all took a seat, Micah taking the single person seat in the very back. He was leaning back, and closed his eyes to think about the future. His death. Not much to look forwards to, to be honest.

"You worry about the future, young hero?" A voice from across the tiny aisle suddenly said. Micah jolted up, searching for the speaker. Across from him, in the other one person seat, was a ghost. That in and of itself wasn't really all that shocking; they were riding in the chariot of death; there were ghosts all around. This one, however, seemed to be different. She looked like your typical young woman; no older than 30. Her face was hidden under a hood that attaches to her robes. Her head was downcast as she spoke, and Micah felt an odd sense of... attachment to her, like he had met her or knew her.

"Actually, yeah." He admitted before he could think. His face must have betrayed his thoughts, because the ghost lady chuckled softly.

"That is alright; it is normal to question the future, especially with a future such as yours." She said. You could hear a tinge of secrecy in her last few words.

"Remember your promise, Micah Lyte; remember who you are and what you care about. When the time comes, you will make the right decision. Follow your heart, and the path will be clear." She said ominously. Micah couldn't believe what she was saying.

"Who are you?" He asked. Suddenly, the bus hit a bump, and Micah looked behind them to see what they had hit. When he turned back around, she was gone. He closed his eyes and focused. When he opened his eyes again, time had come to a virtual standstill. He opened the door to the bus and stepped out, looking all around.

'She has to be here somewhere!' he thought. Just then, he caught the retreating for of a ghost with a golden aura around it. Micah sped over to it, but it seemed to vanish down the road. He ran over to it again; the same thing happened. Micah was incredibly surprised; this was one of the first times anything had ever been able to even keep up with him, much less avoid him completely. The spirit suddenly sped off down the street, leaving a very surprised Micah in the dust. He quickly recovered, and ran off after it. He was barely able to track it it was moving so fast. Micah was straining just to keep it within his sight. He pushed himself even harder, barely making a dent in the distance between them. But he had to catch it. Somehow, this entity either knew about his past or his future, and he wanted to know how it knew and exactly what it knew. So he kept running faster and faster, until finally he pushed himself faster than he had ever ran before. He felt the particles in his body accelerating, going faster and faster, until he was pitched into what felt like a tunnel of darkness. He was sucked into the voidless hole, disappearing from reality and vanishing into the unknown.


	39. Chapter 39: Bathtubs and Elevators

As Micah ran faster than he ever had before, he could feel the space around him begin to distort. Air pressure and gravity seemed to drastically decrease, making it much easier to maintain his current speed, and to even run faster. And yet, he at the same time felt as though he was being drained of his energy, bit by bit. He looked ahead, and saw the ghost figure, still rapidly moving farther and farther away. Micah grit his teeth, dug deep, and continued pushing, his speed also increasing tremendously. After a few moments, they seemed to reach the end of the timeless tunnel, and were thrown into a blindingly bright area. The lady from the bus turned around and smiled at Micah.

"You have done well to follow me here, child. Still, I expected nothing less." she said softly.

"Who are you? How do you know me? And where the heck are we?" Micah asked, huffing a little bit from sheer fatigue. She. Chuckled and smiled at him.

"We aren't really anywhere right now. This is an area that technically doesn't exist, not according to your world, anyways. It is called Inanis." She explained. Micah felt his blood run cold.

"What do you mean… 'Doesn't exist?!'. How could this place just… not exist?" He asked. She laughed and sat down on an all-white chair Micah didn't even realize was there. She gestured for him to do the same, and he had a seat. It was very comfortable, and felt like sitting on a cloud.

"This place… think of it as one, giant, elaborate illusion. It does not have any ties to the mortal world, or any other plane of existence for that matter. It is… a secluded, unreachable isle of solitude, a perfect place to get away from this world." She sighed contentedly. Micah felt an odd presence, one that felt exactly like…

"Chaos. He… he's here… isn't he?" Micah asked. The woman's smile faded ever so slightly as she nodded.

"We are in… oh, how to put it? A separate room, if you will. He cannot harm us here, child. But yes, unfortunately Inanis is also the only place where Imperium could encage Chaos. Though, even from the depth of his prison, he still affects the lives of the mortal world." She sighed. Micah couldn't believe it. Chaos… THE Chaos… only a room away. He swallowed and forced himself to stay on track.

"You still haven't answered all of my question." He prodded. She smiled and nodded in admission. She stood up and walked over to Micah, placing her hands on his.

"In time, child. Right now, I must relay a message to you. Following me here was a test, and you passed with flying colors, as I knew you would. Now I know you are strong enough to carry this knowledge." She explained, looking deep into his eyes. He felt as though he had met her before, like he knew her, but shook it off.

"There will come a time, very soon, when you will need to make a choice," she explained, gently running her fingers on the word branded into his arm, a frown on her face.

"When all feels hopeless and lost, remember this; Without Sacrifice, there can be no Victory. Remember me, remember this place, and when you are is the most dire of need, call my name. I will be there" She said, gently stroking his cheek lovingly.

"Now, go back to your friends, complete your task. The time approaches when they will need you. When the world will need you." She said, snapping her fingers. A portal opened up behind Micah, and he felt himself being pulled into the wormhole.

"Wait! I don't even know your name!! How can I…" He screamed over the portal's howling. Her smiled deepend, a look of endearment on her face.

"I will see you soon, hero." her voice rang. Micah had no choice but to turn and run into the vacuum, disappearing in a flash. He again felt his energy being tampered with, only this time he could feel energy being added to him, propelling him faster and farther. He suddenly exploded back onto the same street he had left, zoomed up to the bus, and had to slam on the brakes to keep himself from slamming into the side of it. He opened the door, and sat back in his seat, just as time seemed to kick-start back into motion. He looked around, his friends still sitting in the same spot, Annabeth digging into the journal. He leaned his head on the window, breathing out slowly. He caught Reyna's gaze as she silently mouthed

'Are you ok?' He gave her a thumbs up, and she nodded, placing an earbud back into her ear. Micah looked down at his wrist, rubbing it softly.

'When all feels lost, remember this; without sacrifice, there can be no victory…' her words echoed in his memories. Though she didn't say it directly, he understood the implications. He closed his eyes, imagining all the different ways he could inevitably die, when the bus came to a screeching halt.

"Zakros' very own Ruins of the Minoan Temple." The driver announced. The 10 stepped off of the bus, which promptly U-turned and sped off, disappearing in a cloud of dust. What was standing in front of them… looked nothing at all like a temple. The weathered bricks barely rose halfway to their knees, and weeds and grasses had made their home all over the ground. Percy looked all around and, as expected, there was not a soul in sight. Annabeth closed her book with a thud.

"Ok, so… let's hear the Clew one more time." She said, pulling the piece of papyrus out of her pocket.

'Go to the Minoan Gate

Where key of water sealed their fate

Find the keyhole in the east

To find a piece, defeat the beast.'

The group looked up and over the crumbling ruins. Leo whistled, smirking and resting his hands on the back of his head.

"And I thought my ROOM was in shambles… how are we supposed to find anything in this place?"

"Well, for starters, you could try putting some actual EFFORT into looking" Piper joked. Everyone shared a laugh before they decided to split up into the same groups they had been in before and search for anything that seemed a little out of place. Jason and Piper walked together, holding hands and smiling brightly, talking as they went.

"Wow, Greece is so beautiful, huh?" Piper asked, swinging their interlocked hands back and forth slowly. Jason nodded and took in a deep breath.

"Yeah, it really is. The air is crisp and fresh, it's nice and quiet… a really nice place to just come and think, you know?" He agreed. Piper nodded her head, and they continued in silence for a little while, before they saw Percy and Annabeth Walking together in a similar fashion. Frank and Hazel also met up with them, and the 3 men of the couples looked at each other for a few moments, no one saying a word.

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Percy asked

"Oh, you know I'm thinkin' it. Frank?" Jason smirked at him. Frank nodded slowly.

"Oh, yes, gentlemen, I'm totally thinking the same thing. On 3?" Frank said seriously. The 3 girls were still trying to figure out what was going on, and were honestly more than a little worried by the mysterious tone in the mens' voices.

"1….2…" Frank counted slowly

"TRIPLE DATE EXTRAVAGANZA!!" The 3 said in unison

"After this is all over, we totally get together, come back here, and enjoy this beautiful country." Jason agreed. Percy and Frank nodded, and the girls all either sighed or rolled their eyes at their antics, but then again…. They were boys.

Meanwhile, Reyna and Micah were on the other side of the ruins, searching for anything out of the ordinary. They were walking almost shoulder to shoulder, neither saying anything, and simply looking for their next clue. After quite a while of searching, Reyna finally broke the silence.

"So, what are your plans after all this?" She asked. Micah shrugged, looking at his boots.

'Heh, yeah… after this…' He laughed mentally, but refused to actually voice this opinion..

"Don't know, really. Probably resume my travels. I was actually in the middle of a deal when Percy and Annabeth picked me up. I'll probably end up drifting around Russia…. Maybe China, I don't really know." He admitted. Reyna could feel her insides deflate. For some reason, she was really hoping he'd say something like, 'I plan on staying with my best friend for as long as I can.' but apparently THAT wasn't gonna happen. He seemed to read her mind as he placed amsoft hand on her shoulder, throwing her a smile that almost felt forced.

"Don't think I won't definitely stop in and visit my best friend from time to time." He reassured. She nodded half-heartedly.

"Yeah, I gotta visit Frank at least once a month." He continued. Reyna couldn't help but chuckle, punching his arm.

"You're such a dork." She sighed with mock annoyance. He smiled, but on the inside, he felt awful.

'Without sacrifice…. There can be no victory.'

They continued searching, but no one found anything. They all gathered near some old fountain looking formation. It looked like a circle made of bricks, and was full of nasty, green water that looked like it had been sitting there since the place had been built. They were all beat from walking around non-stop for 3 hours, and the sun was just overhead, beating down on them.

"I don't understand… there has to be an entrance or something!" Annabeth wondered. Frank shrugged, crossing his arms.

"Maybe… or maybe we got the wrong place. Maybe we read the Clew wrong." He suggested. Annabeth scoffed at the idea, then began pacing back and forth slowly, tapping her chin in thought.

"Well, I know one thing. I am BEAT!" He sighed, plopping down onto a brick… which promptly slid down and cast him into the disgusting pool.

"ARE YOU FOR REAL!?!" He screamed. They were all too busy laughing to hear the ancient gears turning under them. A few more bricks slid down into the ground as well, and after they regained their composure and Percy dried Leo off, they all noticed the clue.

"This pool… it's shaped like a keyhole!" Annabeth commented, beaming with pride that she had figured it out before Micah.

"Yeah, but it doesn't really go too deep… my aching butt can attest to that." Leo whined, rubbing his toosh. Micah's gears seemed to be turning, as did Annabeth's.

"Percy, could you remove the water from the pool?" Micah asked. Percy nodded and, sticking out his hand, willed the water to move. It splashed out onto the ground, most of it being sucked up by the dry, thirsty ground, leaving only a slight puddle. They looked inside, and saw what they were looking for. Inside the keyhole was… an actual keyhole.

"Great. We don't even know where the stupid key is." Leo grouched, still smelling sour from the algae in the water.

"Yes we do." Reyna said in realization. The others waited for her to continue.

"When I was kidnapped… that monster, he... he had a collection of keys. I bet you anything it was right there in front of me." She chided herself. Micah reached into his pocket, producing a navy blue tinted steel key.

"Did I mention I am an excellent pickpocket?" He offered with a smirk.

"This one was hanging around that thing's neck… who wants to bet that this is our key?" He continued. They stepped into the now dry pool, and Micah slowly slid the key into the slot. Clicks and clunks could be heard from behind the wall, giant tumblers falling into place after centuries of waiting. He began turning the key, and it clicked into place. The ground beneath them jerked, and the entire floor of the pool began to descend downwards.

"It was never a pool… it was an elevator!" Annabeth mused. They went deeper and deeper into the darkness, until the floor met the bottom, and with a shake came to a halt.

"And where should it take us, but… OH YAY!! MORE CREEPY UNDERGROUND CRAP!" Leo mocked happiness. Frank just looked at him, Leo sighing unhappily and lighting his hand.

"Let's just get it over with." He complained, leading them into an ancient hallway, and one step closer to a piece… and a beast.


	40. Chapter 40: Mr 10-Below

Leo led the way as the group once again descended deeper and deeper into a dark cavern. However, this one was a little different. The air felt more moist, and for the most part they weren't descending downward, but more forwards.

"Stay on your toes, guys," Percy uttered, "Something feels...off." Micah couldn't help but crack a tiny grin.

"Hey, that's my line, Jackson." He said playfully. They continued walking in relative silence, Leo leading them ever deeper into the darkened cave, nervously humming some song almost completely unheard… except by Frank, who was standing right behind him.

"Dude… Lloyd Banks?" Frank asked. Leo forced a smile.

"We on fire, up in here. It's burning out. We on Fiiiree!" Leo sang a little bit louder, which naturally made everyone laugh. He turned around and kept leading, still humming. Annabeth happened a glance at the wall, then stopped them.

"This isn't a cave… These markings are from an ancient Greek temple." She mused.

"That means that this must be part of the temple…. Must have been built to house the piece of the Cube."

They came to a split in the tunnel, Leo lighting his other hand, holding one down each way.

"Um…. well…" He said, trying to take his best guess as to where they should go next. While everyone else, including Annabeth, looked like they genuinely had no idea where to go, percy felt an odd feeling of half-connection, half-repulsion to the place, like he could feel something… unnatural. He looked down, and noticed a tiny stream, flowing down the hallway. He looked down the other hallway, and noticed that there was no water there.

"It's this way." Percy said confidently yet worriedly. They all gave him a quizzical look, but nonetheless followed him down the hallway. As they walked, Percy felt a very ominous feeling, like something was seriously wrong, and it only continued as they trudged forwards. Leo pulled his army jacket closer, shivering.

"Geez, dude, did it just drop, like a BILLION degrees or what?!" He asked. Now that Percy took a moment, he DID feel quite a bit colder, which didn't help his worry much at all. They continued onwards, every now and again coming to another fork in the road, but Percy somehow knew exactly where they were going. He felt as though it were a primal instinct as he walked down the cold corridors. Annabeth had the Book out, and was scribbling down her own notes, and studying notes form before.

"It says that the Leviathans are creations of Chaos… His own personal killers, whom He endowed with certain powers, Like power over Shadows, Fire, Water, and other elements. They are extremely powerful, but apparently have weakened over time dues to Chaos not being in this plane of reality." She explained as she read. After what felt like hour, they came to an opening in the cavern. Aside from the air being MUCH colder, it looked very much like an Icy version of the place where they found the 1st piece. The shelves were all frozen over, and the floor was covered in ice.

"Heeeroes…." A deep voice boomed.

"Sorry…. No heroes here… we are…. Um…. housekeeping?" Leo said hopefully in a squeaky voice. Apparently, the creature was not as dumb as it sounded, because they heard a loud thud behind them. They turned to see a massive, humanoid beast standing behind them. It looked like a giant, but instead of cloths it was covered in ice from head to toe. The ice seemed to freeze up over it's head, making it appear to be wearing an glossy hood. The ice that made up its body was tainted periodically with dark, black splotches, making the ice look not at all clean. It had black chains around its wrists and ankles, making it look like the icy version of the Grim Reaper, only furthering the comparison as it flicked out it's arm, a giant, icicle scythe appearing in its hand. It pointed the scythe towards them menacingly.

"Your time is up, heroes. Now, you shall all perish." It growled. Its voice was hollow and empty, and felt like an icy wind blowing through your ears, sending shivers down your spine.

"Yeah, Icy, well, let's see how much you like FIRE!" Leo screamed half-confidently, chucking one of the fireballs in his hands at the beast…. Which promptly slapped it out of the way like an annoying bug. Leo gulped and stepped back.

"He… uh… he took that surprisingly well, actually.." He stuttered. The rest of the group pulled out their weapons, taking a nervous but ready stance.

"Anybody got a plan?" Frank asked. They all turned and looked at Annabeth, who sighed in frustration.

"Look, just because I'm the smartest," She began

"Second… smartest." Micah teased with a smile.

"Doesn't mean that you guys are incapable of thought!" She finished. Just then, the Leviathan chucked giant icicle at them. They all ducked to one side or the other as it crashed into the floor.

"Our best options would be flames and lighting, ice melts and water conducts" Annabeth explained on the fly. Leo starting throwing fireballs at it, screaming "HADOUKEN!" as he did, and Jason began madly shooting lighting at it. Neither seemed to have much effect, as the creature seemed to just shrug them off. He swung the scythe at them much faster than they thought possible. They both seemed to get out of the way in time, but Leo screamed out in pain. Micah was there in an instant, seeing Leo's arm was sliced open. The cut wasn't that deep, but it seemed to be freezing from the inside.

"Ouch… oh man, that sucks. Is it….ccold in here? OR is it just... me?" Leo asked, his lips already turning blue. Micah slapped his hands together, and rubbed them back and forth, creating massive friction. When they were properly heated, he placed them on Leo's wound. His arm began slowly turning back to a healthy shade, and his lips lightened a bit.

"jjjust like mmmMr MmMiagi." Leo tried to joke. Micah moved Leo out of the way of the battle.

"Put some flames on that." He told him, before charging back at the creature. Leo obeyed lighting his hand on fire and sticking it on the wound.

"Show me heat-a-wound." Leo chuckled in a mock-Mr. Miagi. Micah ran in and began slicing at the creature, but as soon as he would get close, he could feel the air getting colder, slowing him down immensely, to the point where the Latvian could successfully dodge his slashes. He ducked and weaved, then knocked the wind out of Micha, slamming the blunt end of the scythe into his stomach, sending him staggering backwards. It suddenly lurched forwards as an arrow impaled it in the back of the head, whipping around to see Frank notching another arrow. He fired on into its knee, sending it to the floor. His arm morphed into that of a gorilla, slamming the massive cinder-block fist into its head. The Latvian flew backwards, crushing a massive stalagmite.

"Nice shot Frank!" Jason yelled to him, Frank smiling widely. Their celebration was short lived as the beast had already gotten back onto its feet, cracking its neck eerily. Micah vibrated his body, until he looked like a blur, then rushed in, the heat from the vibration helping to keep him from slowing down, and landed quite a few hits, Frank hitting the back of its knee, and Jason smashing the end of his spear into its face. Hazel home-run hit it with her spatha, and sent it vaulting across the room for a second time.

"This thing has got to be wearing out by now!" Frank huffed, the others equally tired. But, yet again, the creature stood up, almost seeming like it was being controlled.

"You cannot beat me, mortals. You are beneath me, and my power is beyond your comprehension." It gloated. It suddenly went stiff, dropping to its knees, revealing Annabeth and Piper standing behind it. But even with the 2 daggers driven into its spine, it still stood yet again.

"Oook… I'm seriously open to ideas." Annabeth yelled. The creature tried to attack the 2 dagger weilding damsels, and would have, if not for Reyna whipping her Urami into its arm and holding it back. She yanked with all her might, and brought the creature tumbling to the ground. It stood again, kakling as it did. Reyna saw the classic look adorn Micah's face.

"Mike…" She warned.

"This is gonna suck." He complained, before taking a runner's stance facing the beast.

"Come, child, and face me!" It beckoned. Micah took off in an instant, charging straight for the creature. At the last second, he vibrated his body and disappeared. The beast contorted in pain, then suddenly went stiff. After a few seconds, it exploded, sending monster gunk and dust flying everywhere. The rest of the group was far enough away that they got little to none on them at all, but Micah wasn't so lucky. He stood right where the creature had been, covered literally head-to-toe in monster gunk. He slowly reached up and wiped it off of his eyes and mouth.

"Perfect." He grumbled. After getting over the initial shock, the boys all rushed over, congratulating him, but he wanted nothing to do with it.

"Can we just get this thing and get out of here?" He complained, flinging his arms and flicking off some of the monster goo. After giving Leo the tiny amount of ambrosia she kept in her pocket, he was much better, the wound returning to normal coloration. They all headed to the far end of the room, Micah's shoes squishing the whole way. Just as the first piece, the second was also on a pedestal. When removed, an identical looking secret drawer opened up, revealing another Clew. Annabeth pulled the first piece out, and held it next to the second. Both pieces glowed vibrant purple and, in a bright flash of light, fused together perfectly, forming one, larger piece. It was beginning to look more like a cube, and was still glowing slightly as she placed it back into her bag.

"One step closer. On to the next one." Annabeth announced, She and Leo leading them back out from whence they came; off to face another challenge in a race against time.


	41. PLEASE READ!

ATTENTION ALL FANS!

Hi guys! It has been quite a while since I started re-uploading this story, and I hope to explain why I stopped. I love this story; it was my very first fanfiction, and holds a special place in my heart and always will. However, after writing many other stories and getting much more experience, I have changed quite a bit as an author. It is for that reason that I will be rebooting this entire story on another profile, TheLyte.

This new profile will be dedicated solely to the updating and reuploading of this story, so find it there.

 _ **I WILL BE DELETING THIS STORY IN 2 DAYS, TO GIVE EVERYONE ENOUGH TIME TO SEE THIS AND MOVE OVER TO THE NEW STORY!**_

I would love to have you all there and follow and fav the new story! Thanks for the patience!

M.J. Lyte, now TheLyte


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